December 21, 2024 at 8:30 AM EST
Cartoon: A couple of dummies

A cartoon by Mike Luckovich. Campaign Action

December 21, 2024 at 2:01 AM EST
House speaker spoke with man in charge""and Trump""ahead of spending bill vote

After Republicans tried to blame everyone else for the crisis they created, it looks like House Speaker Mike Johnson was finally able to pass a spending bill Friday night to keep the government open through the end of the year and into the next administration. Johnson emerged from the House floor to cheerlead and try to erase all memories of the GOP's disastrous handling of the bill""and how shadow President Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump sabotaged an earlier version of it. When asked if he spoke to Musk or Trump about the final bill, Johnson's response was interesting:

December 21, 2024 at 2:00 AM EST
Government funding bill clears Congress to narrowly avert shutdown

Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump's demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would "meet our obligations" and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the day's outcome was uncertain after Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal -- if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures "start now."