The United States faces an imminent government shutdown as political brinkmanship and unexpected interventions by President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have plunged Washington into chaos.
With federal funding set to expire at midnight Friday, lawmakers had appeared ready to approve a temporary stopgap bill, known as a “continuing resolution” (CR), to maintain government operations through the New Year.
However, the fragile agreement unraveled after Musk criticized the bill on X (formerly Twitter) and Trump demanded new conditions at the eleventh hour.
Elon Musk, President-elect Trump’s incoming “efficiency czar,” ignited the turmoil with a series of posts disparaging the CR.
Musk’s 208 million followers were bombarded with allegations of excessive spending and unrelated add-ons in the bill, many of which were later proven to be false or misleading.
Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance escalated the crisis, issuing a statement that called for an increase in the country’s debt limit to be included in the package.
Debt-limit negotiations, which typically require weeks of legislative wrangling, now threaten to derail the entire funding effort just hours before the shutdown deadline.
If no agreement is reached, a government shutdown would shutter federal agencies, close national parks, and furlough hundreds of thousands of workers just before Christmas.
Public services would grind to a halt, and unpaid federal employees could face financial hardship during the holiday season.
The potential shutdown has also raised concerns about the influence of unelected figures like Musk on national governance.
George Conway, a prominent conservative lawyer, remarked, “It’s weird to think that Elon Musk will end up having paid far less for the United States Government than he did for Twitter.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, already under fire for mismanaging his party’s divisions, is scrambling to salvage the situation.
Republicans and Democrats are meeting separately to devise a last-minute solution, but the prospects of bipartisan cooperation remain bleak.
Johnson is reportedly preparing a leaner funding proposal, stripping controversial provisions and adding a borrowing limit increase. However, Senate Democrats have indicated they will reject anything short of the original bipartisan agreement.
“House Democrats are going to continue to fight for families, farmers, and the future of working-class Americans,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated. “The best path forward is the bipartisan agreement that we negotiated.”
The standoff offers a glimpse into the chaos Democrats warn could define Trump’s second term.
His insistence on tackling the debt limit before his inauguration has upended months of Congressional planning.
The Biden administration has projected that the U.S. will not reach its borrowing limit until mid-2025, and many Republicans had intended to address the issue in future legislation.
But Trump’s demand has left his party scrambling, with divisions deepening between fiscal hawks and moderates.
The delay jeopardizes billions in federal aid, including $100 billion in disaster relief for communities devastated by fall hurricanes and $30 billion in economic assistance for farmers.
The disarray also underscores the difficulty Republicans face in governing a fractured majority.
With time running out and no clear resolution in sight, Americans are bracing for the shutdown’s wide-reaching consequences.
Whether Congress can find a last-minute compromise remains uncertain, but the crisis has already highlighted the challenges of navigating a divided government under unprecedented external influences.