NEW PATH FORWARD: Conservative Member Charts a Different Course After 2 Failed Must-Pass Spending Bills

After the second must-pass bill to fund the government failed in the House of Representatives Thursday night, a conservative member who voted against the spending bill called for a new path forward.

Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate drafted a compromise bill, known as a continuing resolution, to fund the government through March 14, 2025. That bill, more than 1,500 pages long, would have funded the government at current levels, but it also included other provisions, including pay increases for members of Congress, funding for a State Department agency that has reportedly targeted conservative media outlets, and a provision to give the government of Washington, D.C., control of the area around Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

After the bill became public Tuesday night, Tesla founder Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy—whom President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead his nongovernmental advisory group the Department of Government Efficiency—loudly opposed the bill, and House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled it Wednesday night after Trump joined the critics.

Trump endorsed a second spending bill, the American Relief Act of 2025, on Thursday afternoon and urged a vote Thursday evening.

The vote failed in the House, 174 to 235. While some Republicans voted against it, all but two Democrats opposed the legislation.

The second spending bill proved much shorter than the first, 116 pages as opposed to more than 1,500, but it failed to gain traction. Among other things, the shorter bill would have pushed the date of the debt ceiling out two years to Jan. 30, 2027, allowing more borrowing for two years.

While Democrats often call for debt ceiling increases, Trump advocated for one in order to avoid hitting the debt ceiling shortly before his term. The U.S. will hit the debt limit on Jan. 1, 2025, forcing a battle in Congress just as the Republican majority enters the Senate on Jan. 3 and ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Conservatives such as Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, condemned the debt ceiling aspect of the bill, and Trump responded by harshly criticizing Roy.

A conservative Republican in the House who voted against the second bill laid out a path forward in remarks to The Daily Signal Thursday night.

“Let’s do this the right way now,” the member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “At this late hour, EVERYONE should be able to get behind a clean CR. Let’s save the tougher battles for when we actually have the Senate and the White House.”

A “clean CR” refers to a bill that would fund the government at current levels with no major changes.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., suggested Wednesday that Democrats would oppose a clean CR.

House and Senate leaders are likely to collaborate on a path forward on Friday morning. Government funding will run out on midnight Friday, so Congress has one more day to determine a possible solution before a government shutdown.

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