Trump Says a Shutdown Is Biden's Problem to Solve

[Dennis Donovan]

5. Here's a free version of the original Politico article:

Politico - Trump says any shutdown ‘is a Biden problem to solve’

The president-elect has insisted that any funding package include an extension, or elimination, of the debt limit.

By Andrew Howard
12/20/2024 09:23 AM EST

President-elect Donald Trump worked Friday morning to foist the blame for any potential government shutdown onto the current White House, insisting that the funding fight on Capitol Hill “is a Biden problem to solve.”

Lawmakers had seemed on track earlier this week to fund the government with time to spare, settling on a bipartisan stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, that would extend government spending into March and included a lot of add-ons to appease Democrats and others. But that plan quickly drew the ire of Trump ally Elon Musk, followed by the president-elect and Vice President-elect JD Vance, tanking that bill. Still, with government funding set to run out at midnight on Friday, Trump insisted that it is President Joe Biden who should be held responsible for any shutdown. “If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,’” the president-elect wrote on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”

Of particular interest to Trump amid the ongoing spending negotiations is an increase, or outright removal, of the government’s debt limit. The president-elect has insisted that any funding package include such a provision, an especially tough pill to swallow for conservatives who have for years forced painful debt limit fights on Capitol Hill.

“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump wrote on Truth Social just after 1 a.m. Friday morning. “Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”

Lawmakers have so far struck out on legislation that would meet Trump’s demands. A hastily brokered deal to fund the government and extend the debt limit collapsed on the House floor — with 38 Republican defectors — Thursday night. Speaker Mike Johnson worked through the night Thursday into Friday on a “Plan C” after ditching the original bipartisan deal and failing to pass the new bill on the House floor. Johnson and Trump are both weighing the pros and cons of a government shutdown.

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