[3] Many Freedom Caucus members initially did not support the party's nominee, Kevin McCarthy, for speaker, although McCarthy won on the 15th ballot after agreeing to give hardliners seats on the Rules Committee, which controls which bills come to the floor, to lower the threshold for a motion to vacate the chair to one member, and to push for steep spending cuts.
[9] The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, passed in June 2023, resolved that year's debt-ceiling crisis and set spending caps for FY2024 and FY2025.
[15] The proposed Act drew criticism from Democrats (who believed the new voting requirements could disenfranchise poor American citizens unable to afford I.D.
[16] Subsequently, House Speaker Mike Johnson proposed a clean continuing resolution funding the government until December 20.
[21] These included $10 billion in economic aid for farmers, restrictions on US capital investment in China, transferring ownership of RFK Stadium to the District of Columbia allowing for a new Washington Commanders stadium, extensions of numerous healthcare programs, legislation requiring pharmacy benefit managers to pass 100% of rebates to sponsors of prescription drug plans, several tech and AI related bills, legislation requiring ticket sellers to list the full prices of each ticket, provisions allowing gas stations to sell E15 fuel year-round, and an effective 3.8% pay increase for members of Congress.
[22][23][24][25][26] Even before the bill was released, numerous hardline Republicans came out against it, criticizing the lack of member input in its development and the riders, which they called unnecessary and wasteful.
[27][28] Elon Musk, a top Republican donor and proposed head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, posted over 100 times on X in opposition to the bill, making numerous misleading claims, and was widely credited for its eventual defeat.
[29][30][31] About 12 hours after Musk first came out against the package, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance released a statement criticizing the deal, calling it a "Democrat giveaway," leading to Johnson abandoning the bill.
[32] Trump called for pairing government funding with an increase to the debt ceiling, which was scheduled to be reached sometime between January and June of 2025, and later argued it should be abolished entirely.
"[29][34][35] On December 19, President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement demanding the removal of additional spending (except for disaster relief and aid to farmers) and the suspension of the debt ceiling (due to be reached in 2025).
[49] Although the deadline had passed before the bill was voted and signed in, as federal funding is tracked daily, the Office of Management and Budget didn't activate the shutdown procedures and directed agencies to continue normal operations based on the high probability of the resolution being passed following the successful House vote.