US President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk rejected a bipartisan funding bill that may shut down the US government.
According to Associated Press, Trump on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, rejected a plan made by Republicans and Democratic lawmakers to keep the government running during Christmastime and asked GOP members and House Speaker Mike Johnson to renegotiate.
Trump's rejection came days before the deadline on Friday, December 20, 2024, after criticism from his ally Elon Musk.
The 78-year-old in a joint statement with the upcoming Vice President JD Vance urged, “Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH... Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”
“Increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate on a debt ceiling increase now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration? Let’s have this debate over the debt ceiling now.”
The joint statement and rejection came after Tesla owner Elon Musk spent the entire day criticising the bill for excessive spending on social media. He wrote, “Stop the steal of your tax dollars!”
Notably, Congress needs to pass the law by the end of the week to stop government services ranging from the National Parks Service to the Border Patrol from closing on Saturday, December 21, 2024.
