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If this week is any indication, congressional Republicans’ ability to pass legislation in 2025 won’t be easy. On Wednesday, Elon Musk appeared to have succeeded in undercutting bipartisan spending bills. As a result, the government has been shut down. Yesterday, Congress passed a slimmer version of the bill, which Donald Trump and Musk praised, but failed to pass, largely because it included the debt ceiling. too which Trump loudly requested While writing this article The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a version of the bill that does not include a provision to raise the debt ceiling.
I ask my colleague Russell Berman, who oversees Congress. Help me make sense of the chaos of the past few days. We talked about Trump’s relationship with Musk, with Joe Biden being in on all of this. And why is it the so-called GOP trifecta of the House, Senate and Presidency? Therefore, it may not be as empowering for the Republican Party as thought.
Isabel Fattal: The week’s events seem to exemplify the difference between the big, bold moves that President Donald Trump (and Elon Musk) value and the substance of what members of Congress actually care about.
Russell Berman: Trump has never paid much attention to this essence. That has always caused friction with Congress, which is tasked with worrying about the details of the law. The 430 members of the House of Representatives, and of course the 219 Republicans, all have different priorities.
Musk and Trump have very different priorities. While there appears to be a connection, Musk was put in charge of the amorphous, Trump-engineered Department of Government Efficiency, with orders to make major spending cuts. But Trump has never really been interested in reducing spending. He jumped in at the last minute this week and asked Republicans to raise the debt ceiling, which is difficult for Congress and especially for Republicans to do. Because raising the debt ceiling is seen as paving the way for more spending and debt.
Trump wants it off the table. Because he didn’t want to deal with it when he took office. But the scaled back bill hasn’t worked. Because even though there is less direct spending But a few dozen Republicans and a majority of Democrats oppose raising the debt ceiling attached to it. That’s one example of how Trump doesn’t really care about important matters, which doesn’t work when dealing with Congress.
Isabel: If this week were any preview of how Congress would function under the next Trump presidency, it would be. What have we learned?
Russell: When it comes to January Republicans will have a majority in the Senate. But it will be slightly less than in the House of Commons. A majority in the Senate is important in passing legislation only if they can carry the bill out of the House. We have seen this over the past two years. But this week made it clear once again that their majority isn’t big enough for them to really rule. For as much talk as there is about the Republican Party, there will be three parties next year with Trump in the White House and control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In fact, they will have a lot of trouble passing their agenda without Democratic support.
Isabel: Trump hopes President Joe Biden will be responsible for this shutdown. But I am amazed that some Americans already see Trump as the current president. And Biden has been conspicuously quiet throughout all of this. Who do you think the American public will ultimately be responsible for if the government shuts down?
Russell: Biden almost disappeared from public view today, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. was pushed in this matter—Biden has made no public statements about these negotiations except through her. But this wasn’t really his negotiation. This was a negotiation between Democratic congressional leaders and Republican congressional leaders. Trump has inserted himself into it, Biden has not, and that will make it difficult to lay this at Biden’s feet.
Isabel: Is it standard practice for a president-elect to engage in these types of shutdown negotiations in Congress?
Russell: The president-elect is inevitably seen as the leader of his party. Therefore, it is not uncommon for negotiations that occur during the transition to involve the president-elect or his team. But Trump has no official role here, in some ways Musk, of course, also has no official position in government. forced his hand He started posting about the bill being negotiated by House Speaker Mike Johnson, and suddenly people were wondering: Is Elon Musk speaking for Trump? He must be That left Trump and the vice president-elect, who remains a senator, weighing in a few days ago. But when they weigh It’s almost an anti-decision, given that Musk has already spoken out with his enormous wealth combination. Regulating key social media platforms and influence with Trump and the Republican Party is already listening.
Isabel: Trump’s spokesmanand musk himselfIt appears to be trying to reverse the idea that Musk was responsible for the failure of the original spending bill earlier this week. Do you think Trump might be unhappy with Musk taking the reins? Why?
Russell: That might be a compelling enough hope for both Johnson and the Democrats. Even if they don’t say it clearly. But they are united in their desire to not give Elon Musk that much power. And to be honest I wanted to destroy all of this. They probably assumed that the best way for that to happen was to convince Trump that Musk was outshinning him. Trump famously doesn’t like being disrespected or seen as doing anyone’s bidding. So they hope Trump will abandon him like he has abandoned so many others who have been close to him over the years. Loyalty can only go one way with Trump.
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Today’s news
- At least two people died after that. The car drove into the crowd. At the Christmas market in Magdeburg Germany According to the police report Fire and emergency services told CNN that more than 60 people were injured and a suspect had been arrested.
- Senior US official Meet the boss of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group leading the overthrow of the Syrian regime. It was the first time since former President Bashar al-Assad fled the country.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced Major cabinet reshuffleIncluding the addition of eight new members.
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Postpone your happiness.
By Arthur C. Brooks
One evening, a few months ago (My father-in-law) died. He read my article about the suffering in his local newspaper. “You have a lot of complicated theories,” he told me, “but the real reason people are unhappy is very simple.” I asked him to elaborate. “They don’t like dinner,” he replied. I asked him what he meant. “During the civil war We were always hungry,” he says, “but once a year—Christmas—we got to eat whatever we wanted. And we are so happy that today people snack all day long, never hungry, never enjoying their dinner. and not happy Even at Christmas.”
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