LAUREN TAYLOR: Republicans forced House Speaker Mike Johnson back to the drawing board, blocking the Republican Speaker’s bipartisan plan to avoid a government shutdown.

With just three days until the deadline for a deal, Johnson will need to develop a new solution that has the votes to pass while maintaining the support of President-elect Donald Trump and his ally, Elon Musk.

After the bill came out Tuesday, a growing number of House Republicans criticized Johnson’s deal for the concessions it makes to Democrats, including an extension to the suspension of the debt ceiling.

Musk posted on X repeatedly criticizing the bill, the social media site he owns. He and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are leading President-elect Trump’s charge to make large-scale cuts to government spending.

After the bill collapsed, Musk posted, “Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead.”

In a joint statement, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance said “If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF.”

Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate.

In the House, the bill needs the support of a two-thirds majority because of a procedural move Johnson is taking to speed up the bill.

Adding a layer of difficulty for Johnson is the swearing in of a new Congress in January. Johnson will have a narrower majority entering the new term and will need the support of nearly every House Republican to win a vote to stay as Speaker. 

Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, has already said he will vote against Johnson.

If no deal is reached by Saturday after midnight, most federal operations would shut down. With the weekend, most services will not be fully affected until Monday.

A shutdown would close everything from national parks to government-operated museums and historic sites and delay applications for things like government benefits or new passports.

The shutdown does not affect things like mail delivery, and essential services like border patrol and airport security will stay in operation. But their staff will not be paid until after a shutdown ends.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

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