Trump sets condition raising debt ceiling for budget

Trump, who takes office officially on January 20th 2025, made his stand public while House of Representatives Chairman Mike Johnson is holding talks in the Capitol with some of the most conservative Republicans, who influenced the failure of the Trump-backed bill.

The deadlines for closing government agencies are narrowing by midnight Friday.

“If there is a government closure, let it now begin”, Trump wrote to the social media.

Trump himself triggered the government's longest closure in history during his first mandate at the White House, when the government partially closed for a month starting around the end of December 2018, until about mid-January 2019.

The president's main requirement is to increase the debt ceiling before it officially assumes office.

The federal debt margin expires on January 1st, and Trump does not want the first months of his new administration to be in charge of difficult negotiations in Congress on the country's borrower capacity.

This situation creates the Democrats, who will be in the minority in Congress next year, an advantage.

House of Representatives Chairman Mike Johnson is struggling with time behind closed doors to prevent government closure, but his influence is limited.

Trump and his ally, billionaire Elon Musk, rejected the first plan presented by Mr. Johnson, the product of a two-party compromise, which included $100 billion in aid to countries hard hit by natural disasters. The biparty bill did not address the debt ceiling issue.

Following the pressure of the elected president, Mr Johnson negotiated a new legal package, which was supported by Trump.

But the new bill, which included increasing the debt ceiling until 2027, failed in Congress. Thirty-eight hardline republics voted against him, including all Democrats, in addition to three.

On Friday morning, President-elect JD Vance went to the House of Representatives' office in Capitol, where a group of hardline Republicans were meeting with Johnson. The latter has insisted on finding a solution to the situation.

Government employees have been told to prepare for a partial closure of the government.

“Welcome back to the MAGA box”, the leader of the democratic minority in the Hakeem Jeffries Chamber wrote today in a post in social media.

This is why our country is on the verge of closing the government, what will harm the economy, harm Americans of the working class, and is likely to be the longest closure in the country's history”.

In the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats for another few weeks, talks are under way with the aim of promoting an agreement on the original package, the fruit of a compromise between Johnson, Jeffries and Senate leaders negotiated earlier this week. That would be difficult, but not impossible.

The majority leader in the Senate, Democrat Chuck Schumer, called the original agreement the fastest, simpler and easier way to ensure that the government stays open and offers vital and urgent assistance to the American people”, as he said.

President Joe Biden, who is in his recent weeks in office, has not spoken on this issue, which has prompted criticism from Trump and Republicans, who are trying to warn him of responsibility for a possible closure of the government.

Johnson faces a difficult task, he is not only intent on not going to shut down the government, but also saving his job.

The election of House of Representatives chairman is the first vote to be held at the new Congress, which meets on January 3rd, and Mr. Johnson will need the support of almost every republican, to take office. The Democrats will vote for Jeffries. / VOA