Trump: ‘If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now’
President-elect Trump said Friday that a government shutdown should start under President Biden’s administration and not after he is sworn in next month.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,'” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
The president-elect posted hours before the House is expected to vote on the Republicans’ plan C to avert a government shutdown.
Government funding runs out when the clock strikes midnight late Friday; if a deal is not struck, the government would be shut down ahead of the holidays and with just a month left of the Biden administration.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Friday morning that Republicans have a third plan after the House on Thursday voted down Johnson’s plan B bill that combined a three-month government funding extension with a two-year suspension of the debt limit and other policy measures.
But if Johnson moves forward with a clean, short-term stopgap, it is unclear that will muster enough votes to clear the House. And it’s also not guaranteed that his plan C would appease Trump, who has demanded Republicans raise the debt ceiling as part of the continuing resolution.