House rejects Trump-backed plan to avoid shutdown
This was reported in the American media. The contents of the understanding are not yet clear
2' min read
2' min read
The US House rejected the anti-shutdown plan on which the Republicans had reached an agreement. The deal was backed by Donald Trump and included a two-year debt ceiling rollover, a measure demanded by the president-elect. Yesterday, a first bipartisan agreement had been rejected in order to avoid partial paralysis of the government as of Saturday under pressure from Elon Musk, the inspirer of a second agreement with a Republican signature deemed 'much better'. Not enough, however, to pass the House vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson is working to resolve the impasse and avoid a shutdown in a few hours.
A shutdown is the procedure whereby non-essential government activities without the approval of appropriations must be subject to a 'shutdown' until a refinancing is approved by Congress.
A deal had been found but Donald Trump had rejected it. It was a bipartisan deal in Congress that would have allocated over $100 billion for natural disasters and farmers in the bill to avoid the shutdown, scheduled for Friday 20 December. Suggesting that concessions to the Democrats are "a betrayal of our country," the president-elect said in a joint statement with his deputy J.D. Vance that "Republicans must get smart and tough. If the Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then their bluff must be called." Before him, Elon Musk had hammered on X against the measure.
While taking this domestic slap in the face, Trump turns his attention abroad. The president-elect has threatened the European Union with tariffs if its member countries no longer buy American oil and gas. "I have told the European Union that it must make up its huge deficit with the United States by buying our oil and gas on a large scale. Otherwise it's TARIFFS all the way!!!," he said on social Truth.
The US is the world's largest producer of crude oil and the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. LNG buyers - including the EU and Vietnam - have already talked about buying more fuel from the US, in part to deter the threat of tariffs.
