Bill to fund the government through March 14 unveiled but Johnson’s dealmaking with Democrats angers conservatives

Originally Published: 17 DEC 24 10:48 ET

Updated: 17 DEC 24 22:35 ET

By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, Clare Foran and Manu Raju, CNN

Washington (CNN) — Lawmakers unveiled a stop-gap spending bill on Tuesday night to prevent a shutdown that funds the government through March 14 and includes $100 billion in disaster relief and other key provisions.

The deal would avert a lame duck showdown, instead punting major spending decisions to the incoming Trump administration. Its release comes as conservatives have grown increasingly frustrated with Speaker Mike Johnson over the negotiations, a warning sign for the House GOP leader who faces a vote to keep the gavel at the start of the new Congress.

The deal had been delayed by at least a day as leaders of both parties haggled for their own legislative priorities in the end-of-year package. In addition to disaster relief, a top priority for Democrats and the Biden administration, Republicans pushed for farm aid and the package includes $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers, an issue that became a massive last-minute negotiation in the package.

But the speaker’s late-December dealmaking with Democrats provoked intense anger across his GOP conference. Many Republicans are irate at the number of provisions that have been tacked onto a bill that was intended to simply extend current funding levels and stop a shutdown.

If the measure passes — as expected — it will hand Johnson, incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune and President-elect Donald Trump a major funding headache, and a test of their governing powers, early in 2025.

Trump’s first few months when he returns to Washington were already expected to be jam-packed: Congressional leaders — already under pressure to confirm Trump’s Cabinet quickly in the Senate — must also defuse a debt limit standoff. Trump is also eying a pair of huge legislative packages, focused first on border and energy policy, and second on taxes.

This new funding deadline will create a major political test for the Trump administration and the GOP’s two relatively green Hill leaders. Further complicating matters, Johnson will have almost no room for error early on in the new Congress, before the chamber can replace members who leave for Trump’s Cabinet.

The decision to punt the spending fight had been opposed by many senior Republicans, including the powerful Appropriations Chairman Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma who had preferred to strike a deal with Democrats as they left power.

But conservatives — like those in the House Freedom Caucus — had insisted that they could reach a better funding deal when the GOP takes full control of government in January.

Key provisions of the bill

The bill includes nearly $100 billion in disaster relief and another $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers.

The breakdown includes $29 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund; another $2.2 billion for the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program; $21 billion in disaster relief for farmers including $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers, and $3.5 billion for state and tribal assistance grants to go toward water systems damaged in disasters.

A Department of Housing and Urban Development program for disaster relief would get $12 billion and federal highway and roads disaster relief would total $8 billion.

The funding bill also has a huge win for the city of Washington, DC, as it seeks to become the future home of the Washington Commanders. After years of infighting, Hill leaders allowed the team to negotiate with DC leaders to return to the site of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. The provision came after Hill leaders satisfied other demands from Maryland leaders, including for the federal government to cover the full cost of the replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The legislation will also allow the US Treasury Department to eventually recoup funds from any settlements related to the Key Bridge collapse to pay for the rebuilding.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been in close contact with Democratic leaders as they landed the deal.

Delays frustrate conservatives

The delays throughout the day Monday and Tuesday came amid far bigger problems for Johnson: Multiple GOP lawmakers and senior aides privately predict Johnson won’t get a majority of his conference to back the bill in the end.

“It’s a complete monstrosity,” GOP Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona said of the spending bill ahead of its release, adding, “No, I don’t think it was handled well at all, but that’s kind of par for the course for this town.”

Asked by CNN if he sees himself voting for Johnson on January 3, when members will meet to elect the House speaker, Crane said he would “absolutely not” vote for the spending bill, and “we’ll see about January 3.” Crane was one of the eight GOP members who voted to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year.

Another of the GOP lawmakers who helped take down McCarthy, Rep. Tim Burchett, called the way leadership has handled funding the government “gutless,” explaining, “They got a bunch of garbage they want to pass, so they’ll attach emergency things to it.”

Crane and Burchett are among multiple House conservatives who said Tuesday they feared Johnson and GOP negotiators have ceded too many Democratic demands — resulting in the kind of massive year-end package that Johnson has promised he’d avoid.

“It is a total dumpster fire,” said Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri, voicing his frustrations at Johnson, whom he wouldn’t commit to backing on the floor in January.

Their anger is largely symbolic since most of those conservatives routinely oppose spending deals on the floor. But conservatives are sending an early warning to Johnson, suggesting this week’s funding fight could determine the speaker’s fate in that leadership vote.

“We’ll see. Everything’s got consequences,” said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, when asked if the funding bill would impact his support for Johnson next month.

In recent days, Johnson and his allies have spent hours trying to keep conservatives on his side as negotiations continue. Johnson sat down with the House Freedom Caucus at their weekly meeting on Monday night as he detailed some of the spending conversations and worked to head off a conservative rebellion.

Rep. Byron Donalds, who attended that meeting, said members still want to see the text of the deal: “We got a lot of questions.”

“A deal put together like this, the number one question is, ‘What did the other side get?’” Donalds said.

Aid for farmers

Negotiators had hoped to finalize the government funding deal over the weekend, but last-minute hang-ups emerged, pushing congressional action closer to Friday’s deadline.

A fight over aid for farmers vexed negotiators over the weekend with Republicans desperate to include additional funds in the end-of-year spending deal and Democrats continuing to make demands in exchange for the ask.

Asked if the farm aid could wait until 2025, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told CNN, “There’s the potential for a lot of foreclosures to happen by the end of this year, so it’s an imminent threat that has to be addressed before the end of the year if we’re going to maintain family farms across America.”

Republican Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, the former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said, “From the perspective of the political crowd, of course, rural America is and has been for a long time Republican, so this conference has a responsibility to address those needs, not just because of the political base but because those farmers feed the United States and the world.”

GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas argued that Republicans should have forced Democrats to vote down farm aid on the House floor and not offered any sweeteners in exchange.

“If I was doing this, I would make Democrats vote down farm aid,” Roy said. “Put it on the floor, actually go down and legislate … So instead, we get this negotiated crap and we’re forced to eat this crap sandwich - why? Because fricking Christmas is right around the corner. It’s the same dang thing every year, legislate by crisis, legislate by calendar, not legislate because it’s the right thing to do.”

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Annie Grayer and Haley Talbot contributed to this report.

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