House Republicans reach new plan to avoid government shutdown after back-to-back defeats

House Republicans have tentatively reached another deal to avert a partial government shutdown, as the clock ticks closer to midnight.

Dec 20, 2024 - 12:00
House Republicans reach new plan to avoid government shutdown after back-to-back defeats

House Republican negotiators have tentatively reached an agreement on averting a partial government shutdown at the end of Friday, sources told Fox News Digital.

Two people familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that the deal would include a short-term extension of this year's federal funding levels, disaster aid funding, and agricultural support for farmers – but under three separate bills.

It would also involve an agreement to act on the debt limit next year as part of Republicans' planned massive conservative policy overhaul via a process called reconciliation.

The new strategy comes after President-elect Trump and his allies torpedoed Congressional lawmakers' initial plans to avert a partial shutdown ahead of the holidays.

Trump had called on Republicans to act on the debt limit as part of their talks to avert a government shutdown, a demand that dozens of conservative GOP lawmakers bristled at given their concerns about the national debt – which has exceeded $36 trillion.

A plan by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to follow Trump's directives went down in flames on Thursday evening, after 38 Republicans voted with all but two Democrats to kill that bill.

And Trump, along with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, spearheaded opposition to congressional leaders' original bipartisan agreement and even threatened to force lawmakers who supported it out of office.