Trump opposes bipartisan funding bill as govt shutdown deadline looms

Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump opposed a bipartisan funding bill, as lawmakers are struggling to pass the stopgap bill to avert a looming government shutdown.

Trump told Fox News he was “totally against” a proposed government funding bill, putting the stopgap measure, which would keep the government open until mid-March, in danger.

Congress has until Friday night to prevent a funding gap, as lawmakers passed a continuing resolution in September to extend government funding through December 20, Xinhua news agency reported.

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The new package, unveiled on Tuesday, mainly allows the government to maintain its current spending levels for the next three months, providing lawmakers with additional time to negotiate new spending bills.

It also includes 100 billion USD in disaster relief for recovery from major hurricanes and the collapse of Baltimore’s Key Bridge, a one-year extension of the farm bill with an extra $10 billion in aid for farmers.

With some hardliners opposing the stopgap measure and a slim House majority, Republicans will once again need Democrats’ support to approve government funding.

“We should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give the Democrats everything they want,” Vice President-elect and Senator JD Vance said in a joint statement with Trump.

“The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill without Democrat giveaways combined with an increase in the debt ceiling,” said the statement, pressuring the Democrats to cooperate on a debt ceiling increase now.

The latest statement drew criticism from Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the working-class Americans they claim to support. You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow,” he said on social media platform X.