President-elect Donald Trump opposes a project to prevent the shutdown of the US government starting this Saturday. Elon Musk was also against the measure. The federal government will run out of money to finance its operations unless Congress reaches an agreement.
President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that U.S. lawmakers should reject a stopgap bill that would fund the government through March, raising the likelihood of a partial shutdown when current resources run out at midnight Friday.
One of his advisers said Trump, who returns to the White House on Jan. 20, opposes the bill introduced Tuesday night, which would fund government agencies at current levels and provide $100 billion in relief aid. case of disasters.
Trump's position could complicate efforts to avoid a shutdown that would disrupt everything from air travel to law enforcement days before the Dec. 25 Christmas holiday.
It would be the first government shutdown since one that extended from December 2018 to 2019, during Trump's first four-year term in the White House.
Congress's next steps were unclear. Bipartisan agreement is needed to pass the bill in the House of Representatives, where Republicans have a narrow majority, and in the Senate, where Democrats have a slight advantage.
Trump's comments follow those of his ally Elon Musk, who pressured Congress to reject the bill and said its supporters should be stripped of their positions.
Musk spent more than $250 million to help boost Trump's election in November, and has been named by Trump along with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an advisory panel to cut spending and make the government more efficient.
The federal government will run out of money to fund its operations on Saturday unless Congress takes action. On Tuesday, negotiators had reached an agreement to extend the financing until March 14.
House Republicans who helped negotiate the bill said Musk's opposition complicated its passage.
“They are very influential people and people give a lot of importance to what they say,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, referring to Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
“There's never an easy solution to anything here,” Cole said.