U.S. Government Shutdown Looms as Trump and Musk Join Forces to Block Congressional Deal | WPN World People News

To avoid a government shutdown, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson proposed a temporary spending bill aimed at cooperation with the Democrats. However, the proposal has faced sharp criticism from both Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who are calling for the Speaker to come up with a new plan. If the bill is not passed in time, a complete government shutdown could begin early Saturday (21st), with operations impacted starting next Monday. Since 1980, the U.S. government has experienced 14 shutdowns, three of which lasted more than a week.

The current bill extends funding through March 14 and provides nearly $100 billion in disaster relief funds for federal emergency operations, as well as aid for farmers. However, the bill also includes numerous unrelated provisions, many of which are aligned with Democratic priorities, such as raising congressional salaries, funding for football stadiums, and measures to combat deepfake pornography.

Trump believes there is no need for negotiations with the Democrats and argues that the U.S. debt ceiling should be raised or eliminated outright, instead of continuing to extend the "debt ceiling suspension." Musk has also taken to social media to slam the bill, calling it political payoffs and demanding that lawmakers who support it step down. This has put Speaker Johnson in a difficult position, as he has been attempting to help Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy understand that the bill will require Democratic votes to move forward.

Meanwhile, Musk's actions have angered Democrats, who accuse him of acting like a shadow president and interfering in politics. Over the next four years, they believe the U.S. will be under his control. During his previous term, Trump communicated with Congress via Twitter; this time, Musk’s involvement in amplifying the message through social media will make the U.S. political landscape even more unpredictable and chaotic.