Dems say 'hell no' to GOP plan B on government funding, debt ceiling

House Democrats are rallying in overwhelming opposition to the Republicans' second stab at a government funding bill, vowing to sink it on the House floor and force GOP leaders back to the table to negotiate a bipartisan compromise.

Huddling behind closed doors in the Capitol basement, party leaders detailed their opposition to the bill and urged their troops to join them in voting against it.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) foreshadowed that message going in, saying the GOP bill is "laughable."

If there were any questions about the message resonating, they were dispelled by the loud chants of "hell no" that could be heard deep into the hallway outside the meeting room.

"You heard the two-word position," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said afterward.

"We're all there," echoed Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

The vote, which is expected shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday, is governed by a fast-track procedure known as the suspension calendar, which requires two-thirds of the House chamber to pass the bill. The Democrats' opposition means GOP leaders will fall far short of that bar, forcing Republicans either to attempt to move the bill through the Rules Committee, where hard-line conservatives could sink it, or abandon the bill in favor of a plan C. 

President-elect Trump brought Congress to a standstill this week when he came out against the previous bipartisan funding plan that both sides had agreed to, while also making a last-minute demand for Republicans to put in language tackling the nation’s borrowing ceiling.

“Unless the Democrats terminate or substantially extend Debt Ceiling now, I will fight ‘till the end,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. He also warned any Republicans who back a stopgap funding bill without the debt ceiling component will face primary challenges.

Lawmakers are expected to have to tackle raising the debt ceiling, which caps how much money the Treasury can owe to cover the country’s bills, next summer.

Rep. Richard Neal (Mass.), top Democrat on the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, said “the debt ceiling is legitimate, but it has to be decided and discussed in a separate forum.”

“It has been demagogued by both sides over my time here, and I do think deserving of a conversation. But not to be had with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning,” Neal said. 

The debt limit has previously been used as a key point of leverage for the party out of power, which can demand major concessions in return for agreeing to raise the debt limit. And Republicans have successfully used the task of acting on the debt limit in the past to secure concessions from Democrats — most recently last year.

Congress currently has until Friday to pass legislation to keep the government funded or risk a shutdown. 

Democrats have pushed for Republicans to uphold a previously agreed-to, roughly 1,500-page package to keep the government funded that also includes a sweeping bipartisan health care deal, along with about $110 billion in disaster relief and economic assistance for farmers. Jeffries earlier Thursday opened the door to a slimmed-down package, but one without a debt ceiling suspension.

In addition to suspending the debt limit for two years, the new 116-page plan unveiled by Republicans also includes billions of dollars in disaster relief and economic assistance, but strips out reforms to how pharmacy benefit managers operate and chips away at extensions for some health care programs that were included in the earlier package. 

It also cuts other bipartisan provisions singled out by Trump allies that would end a years-long pay freeze for congressional members and language that would transfer administrative jurisdiction over RFK Stadium to the District of Columbia.

Trump is urging both sides to vote for the legislation on Thursday night, saying the bill "will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes."

"A VERY important piece, VITAL to the America First Agenda, was added as well - The date of the very unnecessary Debt Ceiling will be pushed out two years, to January 30, 2027," Trump said. "Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People gave us a mandate to accomplish."