US House approves bill to avert looming government shutdown

The US House of Representatives has voted to avert a government shutdown with just hours to spare, with Democrats joining Republicans to advance a funding bill keeping the lights on through mid-March.

On Friday, lawmakers sent a package to the Senate that would keep federal agencies running through mid-March.

Although the House is run by the Republicans, who introduced the bill, 34 of the party's backbenchers voted against it, while almost every Democrat was a yes.

"Today, Democrats stood firm in our commitment to collaboration, not division. The American people deserve a government that works for them," senior Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson posted on X.

Time for the Senate to act

Congress's setting of government budgets is always a fraught task, with both chambers closely divided between Republicans and Democrats.

The latest drama intensified after Republican President-elect Trump and tech billionaire Musk, his incoming "efficiency czar," pressured his party to renege on a funding bill they had hammered out with Democrats.

Two subsequent efforts to find compromise fell short, leaving Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson at the last chance saloon as he huddled with aides to keep government agencies running.

The House-passed bill funds the government until mid-March in a package that includes $110 billion in disaster aid and financial relief for farmers.

It is essentially the same as a bill that failed miserably in a vote Thursday -- except without a two-year suspension of the country's self-imposed borrowing limit demanded by Trump.

Musk appeared again to be doing his best to marshal conservatives against the deal ahead of the House vote, as he posted: "So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill?"

The influence of the world's richest man over the Republicans -- and his apparent sway with Trump -- has become a focus for Democratic attack, with questions raised over how an unelected citizen can wield so much power.

Get Musk out of the House

There is growing anger even among Republicans over Musk's interference after he trashed the original funding agreement in a blizzard of posts.

"Last time I checked, Elon Musk doesn't have a vote in Congress," Georgia House Republican Rich McCormick told CNN.

"Now, he has influence, and he'll put pressure on us to do whatever he thinks the right thing is for him. But I have 760,000 people who voted for me to do the right thing for them."

Trump has been clear that he is willing to see a shutdown if he does not get his way.

"If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration," he said on social media.