Morning Report — Chilly with a chance of shutdown

In today’s issue:  

• Johnson’s stopgap gamble fails
• Vance’s behind-the-scenes influence
• Willis dropped from Trump’s Georgia case
• Blinken: Ceasefire pressure is on Hamas

It’s crunch time.

With government funding running out at midnight, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to keep the lights on in Washington after his funding deal failed a House floor vote Thursday. 

A deal seemed within reach earlier this week, when Johnson unveiled a sprawling, 1,500-page stopgap that would provide government funding through March and address $110 billion in other spending priorities, including disaster aid and the farm bill.

But after sharp criticism from President-elect Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, that bipartisan deal quickly fell apart. On Thursday, Johnson released a plan B stopgap; at just 160 pages, it slimmed down the original bill’s priorities list and included a two-year suspension of the debt limit, a provision that Trump called for Wednesday.

The president-elect signaled his approval of the new measure on social media Thursday, calling the proposal “a very good deal.” 

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle disagreed.

Johnson brought the new bill to the House floor for a vote Thursday evening under suspension of the rules — meaning it would have required two-thirds of the chamber’s approval to pass. That prospect was highly unlikely; lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against the proposal, 235-174. 

Thirty-eight Republicans voted with all but two Democrats in opposition. Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Kathy Castor (Fla.) voted yes.

▪ The Hill: These 38 Republicans voted against the Trump-backed spending bill.

▪ Politico: Johnson is on shaky ground with Trump after the spending fiasco.

Despite failing, the vote ultimately did two things for Johnson: provide a picture of where his conference stands, and allow the bill to be brought to the Rules Committee to set up a regular floor vote, where it would only need a simple majority to pass. But with Johnson’s first two proposals up in flames, Republicans are unsure what the Speaker will do next.

“There’s no plan,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said after the plan B vote failed, adding: “Trump wants the thing to shut down.”

▪ The Hill: Five things to know about Trump’s call to scrap the debt ceiling.

▪ Politico: Democrats dodge a debt ceiling deal. After years of decrying the borrowing limit as GOP hostage-taking, they’re balking at Trump’s request for a clean increase.

▪ NBC News: Past government shutdowns have dinged Republicans, but not cost them long term.

▪ The New York Times: The spending fight is threatening Johnson’s tenuous hold on his job. 

▪ The Washington Post: “Co-president” Elon Musk? Trump’s ally tests his influence in the spending fight.

Eager to assign blame for a potential shutdown, members on both sides of the aisle were quick to criticize the funding process Thursday.

Democrats were not brought in to negotiate the revised bill, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) panned the measure, telling fellow Democrats in a closed-door meeting that he was a “hell no” on the deal.

“The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious,” he told reporters Thursday afternoon. “It’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.” 

Meanwhile, Republicans came out swinging against Jeffries, accusing him of responsibility.

“If the government shuts down because Hakeem Jeffries tells his people not to vote for it, the Democrat Party in the House of Representatives will be directly responsible for shutting the government down and destroying American agriculture. Period,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) said Thursday.

▪ The New York Times: Federal workers are bracing for the possibility of a disruptive holiday season, which could include longer wait times for travelers.

▪ The Washington Post: The National Park Service, the Internal Revenue Service and other key agencies would be hampered by a shutdown.

What happens now?

Shortly after the failed vote, Johnson told reporters Thursday night that Republicans would “regroup” and “come up with another solution,” adding “stay tuned.”

So it’s back to square one. Democrats are calling on Republicans to return to the previous deal, but it’s unclear what path Johnson will pursue next. Given the Republican opposition, the bill is unlikely to pass in the slim GOP majority if Johnson attempts a regular vote that requires just a simple majority.

Beyond the struggles in the House, any bill would have to not only pass the GOP-controlled House but get approval from Democratic-controlled Senate and White House, which are rejecting the last-minute GOP changes.

But whether it can pass is another question entirely.

“I guess it’s back to the drawing board,” incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill as he exited the Capitol. “We’ll see. We’ll figure out in the House what they want to do next, and they’ll digest this last effort and see what Plan B is. We have to be able to figure out a path forward. We’re little over 24 hours away from a shutdown, so it’s going to have to happen quickly, but we’ll figure it out.”

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ From the effect of President Biden’s debate to the fallout from Trump’s criminal conviction, here’s a look at the very worst in prognostications this year.

▪ Bird flu has spread rapidly in California, the nation’s largest producer of milk. Farmers are frustrated that their herds are getting infected despite various precautions.

▪ Starbucks baristas will launch five days of strikes today, after accusing the coffee giant of stalling union contract negotiations.

LEADING THE DAY 

VEEP BTS: Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio) is playing an important, largely behind-the-scenes role in the Trump transition as he prepares to take office next month, writes The Hill’s Brett Samuels.

While Musk has garnered much of the attention over the past month for his near-constant presence alongside Trump and involvement with the transition, those close to both Trump and Vance said the incoming vice president has been a central and influential figure. Allies credited Vance with rallying GOP support behind Pete Hegseth when his nomination to lead the Pentagon was teetering. He cast a critical vote in the Senate to block a Biden administration labor nominee. And he’s used his relationships with other senators to push Trump’s nominees and agenda before taking office in January. 

“JD’s been in every single pertinent transition meeting,” said one source close to the transition. “He did four months straight of non-stop media appearances. He’s not as active on media stuff, but you can expect that to change once you get closer to Inauguration Day.”

The New York Times: The U.S. provides nearly half of the aid for global health, including childhood vaccination and HIV treatment. Trump may complicate that.

X-FACTOR: Musk unleashed a flood of misinformation about Congress’ end-of-year funding deal Wednesday, as he pushed Republicans to torpedo the stopgap bill. The tech mogul’s influence was powerful; the owner of social platform X ran a 20-hour campaign against the bill that was ultimately successful, prompting the president-elect to disavow the measure. The move could be indicative of how pressure campaigns unfold once Trump takes office in January.

Musk has become a crucial figure in Trump’s inner circle in the wake of the election, reportedly sitting in on job interviews and calls with world leaders alongside the president-elect. The billionaire, who spent at least $250 million boosting Trump’s reelection bid, at one point labeled himself “first buddy.” 

“X has become almost this megaphone for Elon Musk, where he can either shout at congresspeople or give this halo effect to questionable accounts that are providing questionable or false information,” said Erik Nisbet, director of Northwestern University’s Center for Communication & Public Policy. “A lot of [Musk’s] strategy is really leveraging his personal brand, throwing a lot of different claims against the wall to see what sticks.”

▪ Axios: Musk’s maxed-out megaphone: His shutdown power play will be hard to repeat.

▪ CNN: Trump and Musk unleash a new kind of chaos on Washington.

▪ Business Insider: In Musk’s world, X is real life.

WHERE AND WHEN

• Morning Report’s Alexis Simendinger returns after the holidays.
• The House will meet at 9 a.m. The Senate will meet at 10 a.m. 
• The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 11 a.m. At 2:10 p.m., the president and the first lady Jill Biden will make a holiday visit to patients and families at Children’s National Hospital. 
• Vice President Harris is in Washington, D.C., and has no public schedule.

ZOOM IN

© The Associated Press | John Bazemore

COURTS V. TRUMP: The disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) from Trump’s election interference case in Georgia has thrown doubt into the future of the widespread prosecution, which was already complicated by Trump’s impending return to the White House.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge appeals panel reversed the decision of the trial judge, who in March allowed Willis to keep the case, despite revelations about a romantic relationship she had with the lawyer whom she hired to manage the prosecution. In the case she was overseeing, Trump and 14 of his allies are charged with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. Trump on Thursday argued the case against him is entirely dead.

“The case has to be thrown out because it was started corruptly by an incompetent prosecutor who received millions of dollars through her boyfriend — who received it from her — and then they went on cruises all the time,” Trump told Fox News Digital.

NBC News: Anti-Trump forces build a network to aid potential political targets of the incoming administration.

CEO KILLING: Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, faces four new federal charges, newly unsealed court documents show. Mangione was already facing state charges in New York and Pennsylvania, but the newly filed federal charge of murder through use of a firearm could enable authorities to seek the death penalty. 

The new federal complaint also reveals new details about an alleged notebook Mangione possessed, saying it “contained several handwritten pages that express hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.” 

ELSEWHERE

© The Associated Press | Alexander Zemlianichenko

RUSSIA: In his annual news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to paper over or shift the blame for recent setbacks at home and in the Middle East, while telling Trump that he was ready to talk to the president-elect “any time.” Putin said it was a failure by Iran to resist a rebel offensive that helped bring down Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime this month — without addressing Moscow’s own decision not to help Assad.

The State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, will travel to Damascus in the coming days, Axios reports. Her visit will mark a resumption of U.S. diplomatic engagement with the transitional government in Syria. On Thursday, the Pentagon announced the U,S. currently has “approximately 2,000” troops in Syria, more than double the previously disclosed number of 900.

During his news conference, Putin said Russia’s security services committed the “gravest of blunders” when they failed to stop the assassination of a Russian general in Moscow this week. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for the strike.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, urged European countries to provide guarantees to protect Ukraine after the war with Russia ends, but said these would not be enough without support from the U.S. While the fighting goes on with no end in sight, Western and Ukrainian officials have begun discussing post-war scenarios, prompted in part by Trump’s pledge to swiftly end the conflict.

Zelensky on Thursday discussed the possibility of sending European peacekeeping forces to Ukraine as part of a ceasefire or peace deal.

“As long as Ukraine is not in NATO, this aspect can be considered,” Zelensky said of the peacekeeper idea after a meeting in Brussels.

▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Putin’s annual press conference.

▪ Al Jazeera: Putin said Russia has not been defeated in Syria and plans to meet with Assad, who was granted asylum in Moscow alongside his family.

CEASEFIRE: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said the pressure is on Hamas to move forward with the ceasefire in Gaza, arguing the group’s support from its allies in the region has dwindled in recent months. Blinken expressed optimism that a halt in fighting between Hamas and Israel could occur but cautioned that previous attempts to forge peace in the region have failed. 

“In the absence of that, I think the pressure is on Hamas to finally get to yes. So we should be able to get there, but look, I think we also have to be very realistic,” he said on Thursday. “We’ve had these Lucy and the football moments several times over the last months where we thought we were there, and the football gets pulled away.”

IRAN: Republican lawmakers are hoping that a second Trump administration will exert more pressure on Iran, and they are open to the idea of strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. The Hill’s Brad Dress reports Trump is widely expected to increase pressure on Iran through sanctions and his team is also reportedly considering the possibility of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities to deter Tehran from procuring a nuclear weapon. 

OPINION 

■ “What would Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) do?” His fight is still worth waging, by The Washington Post editorial board.

■ How to avoid the coming federal debt avalanche, by Tom Cole, columnist, The Wall Street Journal.

THE CLOSER

© The Associated Press | Pablo Martinez Monsivais

And finally … Congratulations to the winners of this week’s Morning Report Quiz! In anticipation of the holidays, these quizzers knew all about D.C. traditions.

Here’s who went 4/4: Lynn Gardner, Chuck Schoenberger, Sari Wisch, Tommy Hansbrough, Valerie S. Britt, Stan Wasser, Phil Kirstein, Peter Sprofera, Harry Strulovici, Jaina Mehta Buck, Richard E. Baznik, William Chittam, Linda L. Field, Mark R. Williamson, Robert Bradley, John Trombetti, Chuck Olinger, Carmine Petracca, Jerry LaCamera, Savannah Petracca, Pam Manges and Steve James.

They knew the first National Christmas Tree decorated the northeast quadrant of the Ellipse in 1923.

President George W. Bush hosted the first official White House Hanukkah celebration (in 2001).

Jackie Kennedy Onassis started the tradition of selecting a theme for the official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room.

In D.C., the Smithsonian’s National Zoo offers visitors a light-up display during the holidays.

Stay Engaged 

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