Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington

At a news briefing a short while ago, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that federal employees have already been told to prepare for a potential shutdown.

"In the interest of prudent planning - we want to be prudent here - agencies did start notifying their employees of their potential furlough today at noon," she said.

Additionally, Jean-Pierre said that President Joe Biden had spoken to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries "just moments" before the briefing started.

Asked why Biden had yet to weigh in publicly on the issue, Jean-Pierre said that "he understands how Congress works".

"He’s been around for some time. He understands what strategy works here to get this done," she added. "This is not the first time."

While she declined to comment on "hypotheticals", Jean-Pierre also said that "transition activities will be restricted" next year if a shutdown continues through the presidential inauguration on 20 January.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

Jasmine Crockett, a House Democrat from Texas and fierce Trump critic, tells me "yes" when asked if she thinks a government shutdown is on the horizon.

"Because Elon Musk doesn't know how government works and House Republicans don't know how to grow a spine," she says via text message.

In the final hours before a government shutdown, Republicans are now trying to split the bill into different parts in an attempt to get it over the line, but Crockett doesn't think that will change the odds.

"Splitting it into 3, or 5, or 50 bills is not going to get them enough votes from their caucus alone," she says.

"If they want Democratic votes, they need to stop playing politics and bring the original deal we agreed on to the floor."

Many federal government agencies rely on annual funding approved by Congress.

Every year, these agencies submit their funding requests, which Congress must pass, and the president must sign.

If an agreement is not reached by the start of the fiscal year on 1 October, then there is a shutdown, where all non-essential discretionary functions stop.

Usually when the deadline looms, lawmakers from both parties agree on temporary funding based on the previous year's requests.

This is called a continuing resolution (CR) and it is a stop-gap way to keep agencies open until Congress can agree.

Congress has not passed a spending bill for this fiscal year yet, forcing it to pass a new CR every few months. Republicans in the House have proposed passing another CR, which freezes spending at previous levels.

The White House is pointing fingers at Republicans for a potential government shutdown that could see hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed and or going without pay over the holidays.

"Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here, and they are the ones who created this mess," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says at her daily press briefing.

"Republicans blew up this deal. They did. And they need to fix this. Period."

For context: Republicans and Democrats had drafted a bi-partisan spending bill that was tanked after President-elect Donald Trump and his confidant Elon Musk attacked it on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving a government shutdown less than 12 hours away.

Trump directed Republicans to draft a more conservative version with an added increased debt ceiling, but that has failed and replacement efforts are stalling.

Speaking at the press conference, Jean-Pierre says Republicans need to go back to the original bi-partisan deal.

"Speaker Johnson needs to hold his commitment to that agreement," she says.

She adds that President Joe Biden is being briefed on updates and has been in contact with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Biden has made no public statements so far.

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Republicans are now streaming into their conference room where they are meeting - behind closed doors - to discuss the latest proposed plan.

Republican Congressman Dusty Johnson has confirmed that as it stands, the deal breaks things down into different votes. He said that a number of people still need to sign off, but that they’re headed in the right direction.

But if they go ahead with passing this through just a simple majority, they will need to wait until the rules committee approves their ability to do that. That could come tomorrow, passing the midnight deadline and still briefly shutting down the government.

House Speaker Johnson said: “You’ve got shutdowns and you've got real shutdowns. A shutdown for many hours over Saturday doesn’t actually impact the lives of any human being living on the planet. “

Congressman Chip Roy, who voted against the deal yesterday because he did not want a suspension of the debt ceiling, said on his way in that they’re going to sit down and talk about this.

Elon Musk appears to be endorsing reports of proposals to split the spending bill up and vote on individual parts.

Within the last few hours, he has reposted such reports accompanied by phrases including "sounds promising" and "great idea".

As a reminder, Musk was one of the most vocal critics of the original spending bill released on Tuesday this week.

After last night's failed attempt to keep government services from shutting down in Washington, it's been a morning filled with political wrangling on Capitol Hill. Here's what's happened so far:

• US media are reporting that Republicans are considering splitting a new bill into different parts to be voted on; with one bill on government funding into March; another on hurricane disaster relief aid; and another on an extension of agriculture industry support
• The latest reports have one conspicuous omission - the raising of the debt limit, which just last night had been called an essential part of any bill by President-elect Donald Trump
• We're expecting Republicans to convene and discuss the potential deal at about 12:30 local time (17:30 GMT)
• Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace tells the BBC she thinks a deal is "really close" and believes its a "simple plan" that's "common sense"
• Democrats have voiced their criticism at the Republicans' decision to drop the original bipartisan deal, with Hakeem Jeffries, the highest ranking House Democrat, saying: "Republicans would rather cut taxes for billionaire donors than fund research for children with cancer."

Stick with us and we bring you the latest.

Contours of a deal start to take shapepublished at 16:48 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2024

16:48 GMT 20 December 2024

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

The contours of a deal that could extricate Congress from a shutdown crisis are starting to take shape. It is a piece-by-piece plan to approve the bare minimum that both Democrats and Republicans want at this moment - government funding into March, hurricane relief aid and an extension of agriculture industry support.

Gone is any mention of raising the debt limit, something that Trump insisted as recently as last night was essential for his effort to implement his agenda. Also gone are some of the Democratic priorities, such as healthcare policy changes and disaster-preparedness spending, that were in Wednesday’s compromise legislation.

It is still unclear when these votes will take place - and what bar they would have to clear to pass. And this all sets up bigger budget and debt fights in the new year, when Donald Trump is president. But it would allow legislators to head home for the holidays and keep the government running - and government workers, including the military - getting their pay.

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from Capitol Hill

US media are reporting that Republicans may opt for a series of separate votes - which could break down the funding into one bill on disaster relief, another on aid, and so on.

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace says she is not going to discuss the details of the deal, but she thinks “we’re really close.”

She calls it a “simple plan” that’s “common sense.”

She also notes that Republicans are likely to convene at about 12:30 local time (17:30 GMT) - giving party members a chance to hear the new deal and come to an agreement on it before they try to put it to a vote on the floor.

We're continuing to get reaction from Republicans following last night's vote.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert tells CNN she thinks Trump was "possibly sold a bad bill" last night.

"I voted for it because we do want to do that," she adds.

"But unfortunately, I didn’t want to see what we saw last night. I did not want to see a failure on the House floor for the first demand that President Trump is making. And so now we are working to get something that will not fail for the president."

Meanwhile, a number of media outlets are reporting on comments from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is calling for a return to the original spending bill released on Tuesday.

“It’s time to go back to the original agreement we had just a few days ago. It’s time for that. It’s time the House votes on our bipartisan CR [continuing resolution],” he said.

“It’s the quickest, simplest and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open, while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people."

The office that keeps plans on what to do in case of a government shutdown has told federal agencies on Friday morning to prepare for an imminent shutdown, the Washington Post has reported, quoting anonymous sources.

The warning is said to have come from the White House Office of Management and Budget with less than 24 hours before the deadline.

The Library of Congress website has also issued an advisory notice in the last couple of days to indicate that all of their buildings will be closed to the public and to researchers in the event of a temporary shutdown.

Public events will also be cancelled, the Library says, and staff will not have access to email, voicemail or social media accounts.

If Congress doesn't approve a new spending bill by midnight, reduced funding and capacity for vast swathes of federal government will soon follow.

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from Capitol Hill

A meeting in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office, that we reported on earlier, is breaking up.

Multiple congressmen have walked out of Johnson’s office with, as Republican Congressman Thomas Massie put it, “nothing to say.”

South Carolina congressman Ralph Norman has said they will bring a new bill to the rules committee - what that means is they will try to get a rule that allows them to pass the new deal (whatever it may be) by just a simple majority.

At the moment they need a two-thirds majority to get anything passed.

If Democrats stay firm that they are not willing to help Republicans out of this, then two-thirds becomes out of the question.

Republican leadership may try to get Democrats back on board, or get their own members to agree and pass it with a simple majority. But we still don’t have much knowledge about what the new “it” is.

Image source, Getty Images

Elon Musk has written on X that "either the government should pass sensible bills that actually serve the people or shut it down!"

His latest post comes after President-elect Donald Trump earlier said he'd prefer a shutdown to happen now under President Joe Biden's administration, than after he is sworn in.

Musk's latest post comes after he earlier signalled his aversion to the effects of a government shutdown on federal workers, seeming to be trying to highlight the benefits of having a reduced federal workforce - one of his stated aims in his new role as co-leader of an advisory board called the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

"Shifting people from the government sector, which is low productivity, to the private sector, which is high productivity, results in greatly increased prosperity," he wrote.

Image source, Getty Images

Hakeem Jeffries, the highest ranking House Democrat, has been fiercely critical of Republicans who abruptly killed the bi-partisan spending bill on Thursday under Trump's direction.

"Republicans would rather cut taxes for billionaire donors than fund research for children with cancer. That is why our country is on the brink of a government shutdown that will crash the economy, hurt working class Americans and likely be the longest in history," he writes on X.

"Welcome back to the MAGA swamp."

Republicans replaced the original bi-partisan proposal with another version that got Trump's backing later on Thursday.

Jeffries told reporters "the Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious. It's laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown".

Donald Trump and JD Vance released a jointstatement Wednesday criticising the initial spending bill proposal put forward by House Republicans earlier this week that called for Congress to raise or eliminate the debt ceiling.

Trump reiterated that in a post on Truth Social in the early hours of this morning, writing: "Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling."

"Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President."

The debt ceiling determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills. It was first put in place in 1939 but it has since been lifted many times.

It has become a political flashpoint in recent years, with Republicans who favour slashing spending opposing the ceiling being raised in order to create pressure to cut budgets.

In a phone interview yesterday with our US partner CBS News, external, Trump said the debt ceiling "should be thrown out entirely".

Warning signs for Trump as Republican rebels defiantpublished at 15:02 Greenwich Mean Time 20 December 2024

15:02 GMT 20 December 2024

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

One day after Trump derailed a bipartisan government funding bill – with a big assist from tech multibillionaire Elon Musk – he issued a new demand, for a stripped-down government funding bill that would also raise the limit on how much new debt the federal government can issue to fund its deficit spending.

On Thursday night, this slimmed-down bill, along with a two-year suspension of the debt limit, came up for a vote in the House. Thirty-eight Republicans joined nearly every Democrat in rejecting it. This amounted to a stunning rebuke of the president-elect, who had enthusiastically endorsed the legislation and threatened any Republicans who opposed it.

Since last night's defeat, Republican leaders have been huddling behind closed doors in an effort to come up with a new plan.

They could remove the debt-limit increase – winning over some recalcitrant Republicans but angering Trump. They could renegotiate with Democrats, who may be wary of striking any new deal after Trump torpedoed the first one. They could try bringing each component of the legislative package – government funding, disaster relief, health-care fixes and a debt-limit increase – to separate votes.

Or they could throw up their hands and let the government shut down less than a week before Christmas. That would mean federal workers, including members of the US military, could miss paycheques just as holiday bills come due – a politically fraught option.

Read more:Warning signs for Trump as Republican rebels defiant

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Reporters are once again crowded outside House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office - waiting for any movement from behind the closed door meetings ongoing with members of his party.

Johnson is now down to the wire to try to strike a new deal that can get enough support to pass.

Some members have said they expect a vote at 10:00 local time (15:00 GMT), but that might be ambitious timing.

We’ll keep you updated on Johnson’s movements, and whether they’re getting any closer to averting a shutdown.

If a government shutdown were to happen, the US would significantly reduce its federal workforce of roughly three million, particularly agencies and staff deemed non-essential.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget, external maintains a plan that federal agencies have developed in case of a government shutdown, and labels the levels of urgency of each job.

Essential services including law enforcement and air traffic control will continue to work, but many federal employees will be furloughed.

However, federal workers would not get paid until Congress approves a new spending bill.

Workers will receive retroactive pay when the shutdown ends that covers the days they were furloughed or had to work without pay, according, external to the Office of Personnel Management.

Image source, Getty Images

John James, a House Republican from Michigan, has conceded that Republicans are going to need Democratic votes to pass a spending bill and avoid a government shutdown.

"These are tough issues," James tells Fox News.

The Democrat-controlled Senate coupled with Republicans' narrow House majority means that Republicans will need to "work within the realm of reality", he says.

As we reported a little earlier, the last US government shutdown happened in 2019 - during Donald Trump's first term as president.

It lasted for 35 days before Trump backed down on an insistence that funding be set aside for his planned wall along the Mexican border.

It's not the only shutdown to have occurred in US history. In the past 40-plus years the US government has shut down ten times.

These have included one in 1981 which lasted a few days - it followed then-President Ronald Reagan vetoing a funding bill.

Another took place in 2013 and lasted for 16 days over President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. It left one person maintaining the Canada border.

You can read more on why US government shutdowns occur or you can watch the video below to see how the 2018/19 shutdown affected the US.