The House has passed the latest funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. The bill received widespread bipartisan support.Despite President-elect Trump’s demand for action on the debt ceiling, the GOP’s latest bill does not include an increase or suspension.Federal agencies were preparing Friday for potential shutdown impacts on operations.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that President Biden is not responsible for coming up with a solution, adding, “Republicans need to fix the mess that they caused.” Here’s the latest (times are in ET):9:15 p.m.The Senate is moving to a final vote on a proposal to boost Social Security payments for millions of people, potentially pushing a longtime priority for former public employees through Congress in one of its last acts for the year.The bipartisan bill would eliminate longtime reductions to Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who receive pensions because they worked in federal, state and local government, or public service jobs like teachers, firefighters and police officers. Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it would also further strain Social Security Trust Funds.The legislation has been decades in the making, but the push to pass it came together in the final weeks that lawmakers were in Washington before Congress resets next year. All Senate Democrats except one, as well as 23 Republicans, supported the effort to bring it to a final vote.7:45 p.m.President Joe Biden secured the 235th judicial confirmation of his presidency, an accomplishment that exceeds his predecessor’s total by one after Democrats put extra emphasis on the federal courts following Donald Trump’s far-reaching first term, when he filled three seats on the Supreme Court.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., teed up votes on two California district judges, and they were likely to be the last judicial confirmations this year before Congress adjourns and makes way for a new, Republican-led Senate.The confirmation of Serena Raquel Murillo to be a district judge for the Central District of California broke Trump’s mark. Come next year, Republicans will look to boost Trump’s already considerable influence on the makeup of the federal judiciary in his second term.7:10 p.m.Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he spoke with both President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk around the time of the vote on the government funding package.Trump understood “exactly what we were doing, and why,” Johnson said. “I think he was certainly happy about the outcome, as well.”As for Musk, who has been suggested by some as a replacement as speaker, Johnson said they talked about “the extraordinary challenges of the job.”“I said, hey, you want to be House speaker? I don’t know,” Johnson said.Musk told him, “This may be the hardest job in the world,” Johnson added.6:45 p.m.Hakeem Jeffries, whose support would make or break Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan, called the House’s passage of the government funding bill “a victory for the American people.”House Democrats helped squash Trump’s insistence on a debt ceiling increase by voting against the earlier bill. But on Friday they put up more votes than Republicans to push the final package to passage.“The House Democrats have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting the working class Americans all across the nation,” Jeffries said.Video below: Get the Facts on the debt ceiling6:15 p.m.Hours to go before a midnight government shutdown, the House approved a new plan late Friday from Speaker Mike Johnson that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.Johnson insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the day’s outcome was uncertain after Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now.”The bill was approved 366-34 and now goes to the Senate for expected quick passage.6 p.m.The House has passed the latest funding bill to avert a government shutdown just hours before the midnight deadline. The bill heads to the Senate for approval.5:45 p.m.Voting is underway on the new government funding bill. Two-thirds of the 435-seat House needs to vote in favor of the bill for it to pass.5:40 p.m.Axios’ Andrew Solender reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed support for the Republicans’ proposed funding bill in a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.It also sounds like Democratic members leaving the meeting are joining in that report, according to Solender.4:45 p.m.House Speaker Mike Johnson has set a vote for Friday evening on a new plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid but punted President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.The outcome is uncertain. Johnson declined to disclose the new idea under consideration, but lawmakers said it would fund the government at current levels through March and add $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.The vote comes ahead of a potential government shutdown at midnight.4:15 p.m.Republican senators are expressing optimism that their counterparts in the House will pass a bill to fund the government.“Depending on if the House can execute, I think we could probably tee everything out for later today,” said Sen. John Thune, who’ll take over as Senate majority leader in January.“I think at this point, my view is we should accept whatever the House can pass,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.“And given the time of year and proximity to Christmas, I don’t think people want to hang around here any longer than they have to. And we’re going to do this all over again in three months,” Cornyn continued.“Right now it looks like we’ll probably get out by tomorrow,” said Sen. Thom Thillis of North Carolina. But he added that senators were mostly waiting for the House to order itself.“The work’s in the House. We’re ready to go, we just need something to react to,” Tillis said.3:45 p.m.In his last floor speech Friday as the Senate’s Republican leader, McConnell said he’ll use his remaining time in the Senate to restore “American leadership and American strength,” pushing back on a growing number in his party, including President-elect Donald Trump, who have embraced U.S. isolationism.He also warned that Republicans could “pay a political price” if they don’t pass legislation keeping the government open by midnight Friday. The Kentucky Republican said he’s has reminded his colleagues “how harmful it is to shut the government down and how foolish it is to bet your own side won’t take the blame for it.”“As a bargaining chip, you pay a political price,” McConnell said.South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the current No. 2 Senate Republican, will take over for McConnell in January when he steps down and as Republicans take the majority. McConnell will stay in the Senate at least until his term expires in two years. 3:15 p.m.House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to meet with Majority Leader Mike Johnson Friday afternoon to discuss the GOP’s plan to avert a government shutdown.CNN reports that Jeffries will then hold a Democratic caucus-wide meeting before indicating how they will vote on the floor.The timing of the meetings has not been confirmed.2:45 p.m.House Speaker Mike Johnson says Republicans had reached a consensus on a deal to fund the government but provided no details on its contours.“We have a unified Republican Conference. There is a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward,” Johnson told reporters as he exited a House GOP conference meeting.“I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet, because I’ve got a couple of things I got to wrap up in a few moments upstairs, but I expect that we will be proceeding forward,” he said.“We will not have a government shutdown,” Johnson declared.The speaker added that lawmakers “will meet our obligations for our farmers who aid for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays. I’ll give you the more details here in just a few moments.”2:30 p.m. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters Republicans are still debating the contours of a new budget deal but “ultimately we will bring something to the floor, either through a suspension or a rule, and we’re making that decision.”Scalise noted that they were examining the role of the debt ceiling in a potential deal but didn’t elaborate further.When asked whether Trump was briefed on the plan, Scalise replied: “The president’s very interested in how his administration will start in January. So we want to be on a footing for success, so that we can move that agenda through. We have a very bold agenda that starts in January.”2 p.m. House Republicans are huddled in the Capitol basement as leadership tries to find a path forward that would prevent an extended government shutdown.So far, Republicans who were in the meeting have said they’re only discussing options on how to advance a stopgap government funding bill, as well as disaster aid and financial help for farmers.“They haven’t made any decisions about what they’re going to bring forward yet,” said Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Montana Republican.Rep. Chip Roy, a Freedom Caucus member who voted down the recent Trump-backed budget bill, left the meeting in a rush as lawmakers haggled.“I’m not going to say a word, I’ve got somewhere to be,” Roy told reporters as he exited the room.1:45 p.m. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back after getting numerous questions at her daily briefing Friday about why President Biden hasn’t spoken publicly about the possibility of a government shutdown.“This is not for the president to fix,” she said. “Republicans need to fix the mess that they caused.”1:30 p.m. President Joe Biden has discussed the potential shutdown with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.“There’s still time,” Jean-Pierre said, to avoid a partial government shutdown.She said Republicans created the situation and are responsible for fixing it.“Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this,” Jean-Pierre said. 1:15 p.m. House Republicans are quickly cobbling together a new plan that could involve splitting up the previous efforts — government funding, disaster and agricultural aid into separate votes — with a debt ceiling vote potentially later.They’re meeting privately during the lunch hour to discuss next steps, with a shutdown less than 12 hours away. That’s according to multiple people who received an update in a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.But there was no discussion in the meeting on whether a deal is being discussed or the details of legislation. 12:35 p.m. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to return to a stopgap funding agreement he had negotiated with Democrats.Schumer, a New York Democrat, called that agreement in a floor speech Friday morning “the quickest, simplest, and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people.”Johnson abandoned that legislation earlier this week after first Elon Musk, then President-elect Donald Trump opposed it. But the Republican speaker is facing few options to avert a government shutdown at the end of the day while also appeasing the demands of his fellow Republicans.Democratic leaders so far have demanded that he stick to their deal in order to gain their support to pass it through Congress.12 p.m. Friday morning, Trump continued his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — and if not, let the closures “begin now.”He issued his latest demand as Speaker Johnson arrived early at the Capitol, instantly holing up with Vice President-elect JD Vance and some of the most conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus who helped sink Trump’s bill in a spectacular Thursday evening flop.“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted on social media.Trump does not fear government shutdowns the way Johnson and the lawmakers see federal closures as political losers that harm the livelihoods of Americans. The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and fire thousands of employees. Trump himself sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House.11:45 a.m. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries laid blame for the failure of a package to fund the federal government on Republican donors and the GOP’s economic agenda.“Republicans would rather cut taxes for billionaire donors than fund research for children with cancer,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on the social media platform Bluesky.The House Democrat’s leader further predicted a government shutdown “will crash the economy, hurt working class Americans and likely be the longest in history.”“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” he concluded.11 a.m. Vice President Kamala Harris canceled a planned trip to Los Angeles with Washington on the verge of a government shutdown.She had been scheduled to travel to her home state late Thursday, but instead will remain in the capital, the White House said, after Republicans backed away from a bipartisan compromise to fund the government.CNN contributed to this report.
- The House has passed the latest funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. The bill received widespread bipartisan support.
- Despite President-elect Trump’s demand for action on the debt ceiling, the GOP’s latest bill does not include an increase or suspension.
- Federal agencies were preparing Friday for potential shutdown impacts on operations.
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that President Biden is not responsible for coming up with a solution, adding, “Republicans need to fix the mess that they caused.”
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Here’s the latest (times are in ET):
9:15 p.m.
The Senate is moving to a final vote on a proposal to boost Social Security payments for millions of people, potentially pushing a longtime priority for former public employees through Congress in one of its last acts for the year.
The bipartisan bill would eliminate longtime reductions to Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who receive pensions because they worked in federal, state and local government, or public service jobs like teachers, firefighters and police officers. Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it would also further strain Social Security Trust Funds.
The legislation has been decades in the making, but the push to pass it came together in the final weeks that lawmakers were in Washington before Congress resets next year. All Senate Democrats except one, as well as 23 Republicans, supported the effort to bring it to a final vote.
7:45 p.m.
President Joe Biden secured the 235th judicial confirmation of his presidency, an accomplishment that exceeds his predecessor’s total by one after Democrats put extra emphasis on the federal courts following Donald Trump’s far-reaching first term, when he filled three seats on the Supreme Court.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., teed up votes on two California district judges, and they were likely to be the last judicial confirmations this year before Congress adjourns and makes way for a new, Republican-led Senate.
The confirmation of Serena Raquel Murillo to be a district judge for the Central District of California broke Trump’s mark. Come next year, Republicans will look to boost Trump’s already considerable influence on the makeup of the federal judiciary in his second term.
7:10 p.m.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he spoke with both President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk around the time of the vote on the government funding package.
Trump understood “exactly what we were doing, and why,” Johnson said. “I think he was certainly happy about the outcome, as well.”
As for Musk, who has been suggested by some as a replacement as speaker, Johnson said they talked about “the extraordinary challenges of the job.”
“I said, hey, you want to be House speaker? I don’t know,” Johnson said.
Musk told him, “This may be the hardest job in the world,” Johnson added.
6:45 p.m.
Hakeem Jeffries, whose support would make or break Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan, called the House’s passage of the government funding bill “a victory for the American people.”
House Democrats helped squash Trump’s insistence on a debt ceiling increase by voting against the earlier bill. But on Friday they put up more votes than Republicans to push the final package to passage.
“The House Democrats have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting the working class Americans all across the nation,” Jeffries said.
Video below: Get the Facts on the debt ceiling
6:15 p.m.
Hours to go before a midnight government shutdown, the House approved a new plan late Friday from Speaker Mike Johnson that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.
Johnson insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the day’s outcome was uncertain after Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now.”
The bill was approved 366-34 and now goes to the Senate for expected quick passage.
6 p.m.
The House has passed the latest funding bill to avert a government shutdown just hours before the midnight deadline. The bill heads to the Senate for approval.
5:45 p.m.
Voting is underway on the new government funding bill. Two-thirds of the 435-seat House needs to vote in favor of the bill for it to pass.
5:40 p.m.
Axios’ Andrew Solender reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed support for the Republicans’ proposed funding bill in a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.
It also sounds like Democratic members leaving the meeting are joining in that report, according to Solender.
4:45 p.m.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has set a vote for Friday evening on a new plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid but punted President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.
The outcome is uncertain. Johnson declined to disclose the new idea under consideration, but lawmakers said it would fund the government at current levels through March and add $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.
The vote comes ahead of a potential government shutdown at midnight.
4:15 p.m.
Republican senators are expressing optimism that their counterparts in the House will pass a bill to fund the government.
“Depending on if the House can execute, I think we could probably tee everything out for later today,” said Sen. John Thune, who’ll take over as Senate majority leader in January.
“I think at this point, my view is we should accept whatever the House can pass,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
“And given the time of year and proximity to Christmas, I don’t think people want to hang around here any longer than they have to. And we’re going to do this all over again in three months,” Cornyn continued.
“Right now it looks like we’ll probably get out by tomorrow,” said Sen. Thom Thillis of North Carolina. But he added that senators were mostly waiting for the House to order itself.
“The work’s in the House. We’re ready to go, we just need something to react to,” Tillis said.
3:45 p.m.
In his last floor speech Friday as the Senate’s Republican leader, McConnell said he’ll use his remaining time in the Senate to restore “American leadership and American strength,” pushing back on a growing number in his party, including President-elect Donald Trump, who have embraced U.S. isolationism.
He also warned that Republicans could “pay a political price” if they don’t pass legislation keeping the government open by midnight Friday. The Kentucky Republican said he’s has reminded his colleagues “how harmful it is to shut the government down and how foolish it is to bet your own side won’t take the blame for it.”
“As a bargaining chip, you pay a political price,” McConnell said.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the current No. 2 Senate Republican, will take over for McConnell in January when he steps down and as Republicans take the majority. McConnell will stay in the Senate at least until his term expires in two years.
3:15 p.m.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to meet with Majority Leader Mike Johnson Friday afternoon to discuss the GOP’s plan to avert a government shutdown.
CNN reports that Jeffries will then hold a Democratic caucus-wide meeting before indicating how they will vote on the floor.
The timing of the meetings has not been confirmed.
2:45 p.m.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Republicans had reached a consensus on a deal to fund the government but provided no details on its contours.
“We have a unified Republican Conference. There is a unanimous agreement in the room that we need to move forward,” Johnson told reporters as he exited a House GOP conference meeting.
“I will not telegraph to you the specific details of that yet, because I’ve got a couple of things I got to wrap up in a few moments upstairs, but I expect that we will be proceeding forward,” he said.
“We will not have a government shutdown,” Johnson declared.
The speaker added that lawmakers “will meet our obligations for our farmers who aid for the disaster victims all over the country, and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays. I’ll give you the more details here in just a few moments.”
2:30 p.m.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters Republicans are still debating the contours of a new budget deal but “ultimately we will bring something to the floor, either through a suspension or a rule, and we’re making that decision.”
Scalise noted that they were examining the role of the debt ceiling in a potential deal but didn’t elaborate further.
When asked whether Trump was briefed on the plan, Scalise replied: “The president’s very interested in how his administration will start in January. So we want to be on a footing for success, so that we can move that agenda through. We have a very bold agenda that starts in January.”
2 p.m.
House Republicans are huddled in the Capitol basement as leadership tries to find a path forward that would prevent an extended government shutdown.
So far, Republicans who were in the meeting have said they’re only discussing options on how to advance a stopgap government funding bill, as well as disaster aid and financial help for farmers.
“They haven’t made any decisions about what they’re going to bring forward yet,” said Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Montana Republican.
Rep. Chip Roy, a Freedom Caucus member who voted down the recent Trump-backed budget bill, left the meeting in a rush as lawmakers haggled.
“I’m not going to say a word, I’ve got somewhere to be,” Roy told reporters as he exited the room.
1:45 p.m.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back after getting numerous questions at her daily briefing Friday about why President Biden hasn’t spoken publicly about the possibility of a government shutdown.
“This is not for the president to fix,” she said. “Republicans need to fix the mess that they caused.”
1:30 p.m.
President Joe Biden has discussed the potential shutdown with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
“There’s still time,” Jean-Pierre said, to avoid a partial government shutdown.
She said Republicans created the situation and are responsible for fixing it.
“Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this,” Jean-Pierre said.
1:15 p.m.
House Republicans are quickly cobbling together a new plan that could involve splitting up the previous efforts — government funding, disaster and agricultural aid into separate votes — with a debt ceiling vote potentially later.
They’re meeting privately during the lunch hour to discuss next steps, with a shutdown less than 12 hours away.
That’s according to multiple people who received an update in a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.
But there was no discussion in the meeting on whether a deal is being discussed or the details of legislation.
12:35 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to return to a stopgap funding agreement he had negotiated with Democrats.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, called that agreement in a floor speech Friday morning “the quickest, simplest, and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people.”
Johnson abandoned that legislation earlier this week after first Elon Musk, then President-elect Donald Trump opposed it. But the Republican speaker is facing few options to avert a government shutdown at the end of the day while also appeasing the demands of his fellow Republicans.
Democratic leaders so far have demanded that he stick to their deal in order to gain their support to pass it through Congress.
12 p.m.
Friday morning, Trump continued his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — and if not, let the closures “begin now.”
He issued his latest demand as Speaker Johnson arrived early at the Capitol, instantly holing up with Vice President-elect JD Vance and some of the most conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus who helped sink Trump’s bill in a spectacular Thursday evening flop.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted on social media.
Trump does not fear government shutdowns the way Johnson and the lawmakers see federal closures as political losers that harm the livelihoods of Americans. The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and fire thousands of employees. Trump himself sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House.
11:45 a.m.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries laid blame for the failure of a package to fund the federal government on Republican donors and the GOP’s economic agenda.
“Republicans would rather cut taxes for billionaire donors than fund research for children with cancer,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on the social media platform Bluesky.
The House Democrat’s leader further predicted a government shutdown “will crash the economy, hurt working class Americans and likely be the longest in history.”
“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” he concluded.
11 a.m.
Vice President Kamala Harris canceled a planned trip to Los Angeles with Washington on the verge of a government shutdown.
She had been scheduled to travel to her home state late Thursday, but instead will remain in the capital, the White House said, after Republicans backed away from a bipartisan compromise to fund the government.
CNN contributed to this report.
