Donald Trump has broken his silence on Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s 1,600-page government funding plan, urging GOP lawmakers to stand firm in the face of a possible shutdown.
In a statement made by Trump and incoming VP J.D. Vance, the pair finally shared their thoughts on the Speaker’s spending plan after close ally Elon Musk went on a full-out assault against the measure.
All day Wednesday Musk ridiculed Johnson’s continuing resolution (CR), a stop-gap spending measure to extend government funding until March. If funding is not passed by Saturday, the government may partially shutdown.
But Trump told Republicans not to worry about that.
“Republicans must get smart and tough,” the Trump and Vance statement said. “If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then call their bluff.”
The Republican duo also signaled how they want Johnson to proceed, indicating they want a ‘clean CR,’ a bill without extra policy riders like disaster relief, money to combat growing Chinese influence, and raises for members of Congress that are in the current version.
“We should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want,” Trump and Vance said.
However, another overarching proposal argued in the statement was that the incoming Republicans want Congress to address the debt ceiling.
