This week, we’re getting a powerful reminder of what lawmaking has been like under President Donald Trump — and the turmoil we can expect in his new term.
Trump, along with his allies, Tesla CEO and Elon Musk, A bilateral cost agreement is upended Wednesday, just days before government funding expires. That would be the deal The government has kept it open till March 14$100 billion in disaster relief to support farmers with $10 billion and several other measures. following Rumors from Musk about the shape of the lawTrump called on Republicans Negotiate a new contract That both addresses the debt ceiling and guts the deal on so-called “Democrat giveaways.”
House GOP leaders tried to do just that by introducing a new bill Thursday. surprisingly, That version of the bill failed to garner votes IT NEEDS TO PASS – Lawmakers are once again fiddling with the Friday night shutdown deadline.
Trump’s 11th-hour decision to join the talks, weighing in via social media (and without coordination with congressional allies), is reminiscent of his first-term approach on Capitol Hill, when he regularly dismissed funding discussions and gave the longest straight time. Government shutdown in US history. As such, this week’s chaos is both a callback and a preview of chaos yet to come.
The History of Trump’s Deal Blowing, Briefly Explained
In Trump’s first term, he said Republicans have repeatedly called for a government shutdown To put pressure on Democrats to roll back his priorities, and also proved to be a mercurial negotiator.
Trump is in his first year as president In early August, the shutdown was called for. Attacking members of his own party and emphasizing his willingness to tolerate closures if it means securing funding for a border wall. He went out of his way, too, to do that Swede Democrats on Twitter Before a funding negotiation meeting that novemberSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are being asked not to attend.
And as a shutdown loomed In January 2018, Trump further helped undermine a potential spending deal by throwing out external border security demands. That month, Trump and Schumer famously met over cheeseburgers and appeared to reach an agreement, According to Democratic lawmakers.
That deal would include Democratic support for increased military spending and possible funding for the wall, in exchange for legislation that created a path to legal status for DACA recipients (a category of undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children). Of course, after the meeting Trump is said to have pushed For stricter immigration measures — including policies to enforce illegal immigration across the country — eventually contract killing.
The following week, Democrats postponed their vote on a funding bill in an effort to strengthen the inclusion of DACA protections, leading to a brief shutdown. That didn’t finish the job, however. The shutdown ended when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised Democrats a vote on an immigration bill, which later failed to pass.
Perhaps most notably, Trump went on to cause a 35-day government shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019, after he panned a bipartisan funding deal that lawmakers had already agreed to. His statements prompted House Republicans to pass a different version of the spending bill that included more than $5 billion in funding for a border wall, which Democrats could not support. Because the House and Senate couldn’t find a version of the bill they could both pass, the funding deadline came and went and the government entered a shutdown.
More than a month later, Trump bowed to his demands when it became clear that he and his Republican allies did not have the votes to fund the border wall and that the effects of the shutdown on government services were becoming destabilizing (his approval rating also suffered significantly as the shutdown got underway). He signed a short-term funding bill that reopened the government but did not include his requested border wall funding, although he later declared a national emergency in a second, more successful, attempt to secure wall funding.
Even after leaving the White House in January 2021, Trump continues to meddle with funding bills. Just this past fall, he again Republicans have called on them to reject the funding legislation And shut down the government unless Congress passes a bill to prevent noncitizen voting, which is already illegal.
A return to the chaos of Trump’s first term
This week’s developments are yet another indication that Trump’s disruptive style hasn’t changed — especially with vocal support from new allies like Musk.
Trump and Musk’s shared vision of governing by tweet (or truth social post) could well add to the chaos and pressure that Republican lawmakers will face in the president-elect’s second term.
No one has been shy about threatening to bully people into confessing For example, Kasturi says he will Financial return is the primary challenger Against senators who don’t support Trump’s cabinet picks. And Trump has his own history Pushing for primaries against lawmakers who don’t do his bidding, a tactic he retaliated against this week.
Although Republicans will again control both chambers of Congress next year, as they did in the first two years of Trump’s first term, they will retain narrow majorities that will pose their own challenges. House Speaker Mike Johnson has to keep a divided coalition fully united — or rely on Democrats — to get something done. Already this year, Johnson has had to rely on Democrats to help pass multiple funding bills, a dynamic that has drawn ire from his right and could fuel challenges to his leadership in the new term.
Even after lawmakers resolve this funding fight, it won’t take long for Johnson to rest; Perhaps the next deadline, mid-March, will be an early test for the return of unified Republican rule. If there’s any action this week, GOP leaders will have their work cut out for them — and Trump and Musk will likely throw a few more grenades in the process.
