Top Senate Democrats Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., made clear they only intend to move forward on the original stopgap spending bill plan that Republicans scrapped after pressure from billionaire Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump.

Murray said she is prepared for a partial government shutdown and to stay in Washington D.C., for the Christmas holiday if Republicans do not return to the original short-term spending bill that was released earlier this week and subsequently killed after Musk and others publicly opposed its provisions.

‘I’m ready to stay here through Christmas because we’re not going to let Elon Musk run the government,’ she said in a Friday morning statement, hours before the government could be sent into a partial shutdown if a bill is not passed. 

As of Thursday, the U.S. national debt was at $36,167,604,149,955.61 and continues to climb rapidly. 

‘Put simply, we should not let an unelected billionaire rip away research for pediatric cancer so he can get a tax cut or tear down policies that help America outcompete China because it could hurt his bottom line. We had a bipartisan deal-we should stick to it,’ Murray said. 

In floor remarks on Friday morning, Schumer said, ‘if Republicans do not work with Democrats in a bipartisan way very soon, the government will shut down at midnight.’

‘It’s time to go back to the original agreement we had just a few days ago. It’s time the House votes on our bipartisan CR. It’s the quickest, simplest and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people.’

He also said that if Speaker Mike Johnson were to put the original bill on the House floor for a vote, ‘it would pass, and we could put the threat of a shutdown behind us.’

Murray added, ‘The deal that was already agreed to would responsibly fund the government, offer badly needed disaster relief to communities across America, and deliver some good bipartisan policy reforms. The American people do not want chaos or a costly government shutdown all because an unelected billionaire wants to call the shots — I am ready to work with Republicans and Democrats to pass the bipartisan deal both sides negotiated as soon as possible.’ 

After Musk and conservatives railed against the 1,547-page bill, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance ultimately condemned it as well, killing whatever chance it had left. 

Murray’s Friday statement came shortly after it was revealed that House Republicans were planning a new continuing resolution (CR) vote in the morning on a different proposal. It’s unclear whether negotiations are taking place across party lines or bicamerally, however. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told reporters Friday morning that House Republicans were ‘very close to a deal’ and that a vote could happen in the morning.

However, if that deal is not the original stopgap spending bill, it sounds like Murray and Democrats in the Senate would be prepared to oppose it. 

Murray also isn’t the only one who says they are prepared to let the government’s funding expire before the holiday. Several Republicans have expressed their willingness to let it shut down if Republicans aren’t able to get a better deal. 

Trump himself wrote on Truth Social Friday morning, ‘If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP.’ This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!’

Congress must pass a measure, and it must be signed by President Biden by midnight on Saturday morning in order to avoid a partial shutdown. 

It was former President Obama who famously quipped that ‘elections have consequences,’ and one of the consequences of the 2024 election is that President-elect Donald Trump asked Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to help him straighten out the government’s books.

Now, just days before Christmas, the United States is staring down a federal government shutdown as Democrats cling to power while the hourglass runs out on the 118th Congress, all because Musk exposed the bloated spending being proposed to fund the feds.

‘We had a deal!’ the Democrats whine. And they did have a terrible, pork-laden, censorship-riddled, and at 1,500 pages, needlessly long disaster of a bill, that Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson never should have agreed to in the first place. 

The purpose of the continuing resolution that Congress is struggling to pass is to keep the lights on until March, when a new Republican-controlled Senate will be in power and Trump will be in the White House. Instead, as Musk rightly pointed out, we got, if not an omnibus bill, at least an omni-minivan bill, bloated to the gills.

In Washington, the most typical route is the path of least resistance, and Republicans figured they could give in to one last big Biden spending package before Trump takes over. But that was when Musk and Ramaswamy stepped in.

On Wednesday, just hours before a planned vote in the House of Representatives, Musk started firing off X posts about every 30 seconds or so, decrying the congressional pay raise hidden in the bill, and the money to fund the Global Engagement Center, a sham operation that censors conservatives, along with a plethora of other pork.

Proving the power of Trump and new media forms such as X, the ship of state started to turn almost immediately, away from the shambolic ‘everything’ bill towards a cleaner, ‘plain’ continuing resolution that just funds the basics.

On Thursday night, every single Democrat in the House voted against that bill, along with 38 bloody-minded objectors in the Republican caucus.

First, as to the recalcitrant Republican no votes, let’s take Rep. Chip Roy, as an example. If he was dying, and Congress voted on a ‘save Chip Roy’s life’ bill, the congressman from Texas would be a hard ‘no’ if there weren’t spending offsets. It’s just who he is.

This is to say that the GOP ‘no’ votes were baked into the cake, and Democrats thought they could use them to push through their CVS receipt of absurd and expensive demands.

And they would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those meddlesome kids, Musk and Ramaswamy.

Come Saturday, the government may be shut down. If it is, it will not be the fault of Republicans who have now put a perfectly reasonable bill on the floor, but of Democrats who prize their own power more than federal employees being paid on Christmas week.

Elections have consequences, and Trump was clear that, if elected, outsiders like Musk and Ramaswamy were going to have not just a seat at the table, but real power and influence in furtherance of the Trump agenda.

Perhaps more than anything, what voters were asking for when they handed the keys of the state back to Trump on Election Day was change. Anything but more of the same. And this week, that is exactly what the voters got.

Make no mistake, Trump is taking a real political risk here. Democrats are going to do all they can now to blame him for the shutdown, paint him as Musk’s puppet and to stir up rank partisanship to dampen the optimism and enthusiasm ahead of the inauguration.

But what Trump and Musk are both counting on is that this kind of radical change, as much as it looks like chaos, is exactly what voters asked for. 

Politicians are ultimately judged on results, not tactics. As ugly as the scene in Congress is right now, the result, the death of a terrible spending package, should bring results that Americans will eventually cheer.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a more than 17,000-page report detailing its work this Congress, touting their success in protecting Americans against censorship of speech and the weaponization of federal law enforcement agencies, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Fox News Digital obtained the 17,019-page report compiled by the subcommittee, which falls under the House Judiciary Committee, led by Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. 

‘The Weaponization Committee conducted rigorous oversight of the Biden-Harris administrations weaponized government and uncovered numerous examples of federal government abuses,’ Jordan told Fox News Digital. ‘Through our oversight, we protected the First Amendment by investigating the censorship-industrial-complex, heard from numerous brave whistleblowers, stopped the targeting of Americans by the IRS and Department of Justice, and created serious legislative and policy changes that will benefit all Americans.’ 

The report, first obtained by Fox News Digital, states that the ‘founding documents of the United States articulate the ideals of the American republic and guarantee to all American citizens fundamental rights and liberties. 

‘For too long, however, the American people have faced a two-tiered system of government—one of favorable treatment for the politically-favored class, and one of intimidation and unfairness for the rest of American citizens,’ it continues. ‘Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the contrast between these two tiers has become even more stark.’ 

The committee was created to ‘stand up for the American people,’ the report says, highlighting its work to ‘bring abuses by the federal government into the light for the American people and ensure that Congress, as their elected representatives, can take action to remedy them.’ 

The mission of the subcommittee was to ‘protect and strengthen the fundamental rights of the American people,’ the report said, noting that by investigating, uncovering and documenting executive branch misconduct, lawmakers on the panel have taken ‘important steps to ensure that the federal government no longer works against the American people.’ 

‘This work is not complete, but it is a necessary first step to stop the weaponization of the federal government,’ the report states. 

The committee, from its inception, says it has been working to protect free speech and expand upon the constitutional protections of the First Amendment. 

‘Throughout the Biden-Harris administration, multiple federal agencies, including the White House, have engaged in a vast censorship campaign against so-called mis-, dis-, or malinformation,’ the report states, noting that the subcommittee revealed the extent of the ‘censorship-industrial complex,’ and detailed how the federal government and law enforcement coordinated with academics, nonprofits, and other private entities to censor speech online.’ 

The panel is touting its work, saying its oversight has ‘had a real effect in expanding the First Amendment.’ 

‘In a Supreme Court dissent, three justices noted how the Select Subcommittee’s investigation revealed that ‘valuable speech was..suppressed,’’ the report states. 

And in a letter to the subcommittee, Facebook and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden-Harris administration ‘pressured’ Facebook to censor Americans. 

‘Facebook gave in to this pressure, demoting posts and content that was highly relevant to political discourse in the United States,’ the report states. 

And in another win for the subcommittee, in response to its work, universities and other groups shut down their ‘disinformation’ research, and federal agencies ‘slowed their communications with Big Tech.’ 

The committee also celebrated a ‘big win’ in October after it prevented the creation of a new ‘GARM,’ an advertising association that engaged in censorship and boycotts of conservative media companies. The committee revealed, before it was disbanded, that GARM had been discussing ways to ensure conservative news outlets and platforms could not receive advertising dollars and were engaged in boycotts of conservative voices and Twitter once it became ‘X’ under the ownership of Elon Musk. 

Meanwhile, the subcommittee also investigated the alleged weaponization of federal law enforcement resources. 

In speaking with a number of whistleblowers, the subcommittee learned of waste, fraud and abuse at the FBI. 

‘When these whistleblowers came forward, the bureau brutally retaliated against many of them for breaking ranks—suspending them without pay, preventing them from seeking outside employment, and even purging suspected disloyal employees,’ the report states, noting that the subcommittee revealed that the FBI ‘abused its security clearance adjudication process to target whistleblowers.’ 

The report references the FBI’s response, in which the bureau admitted its ‘error’ and reinstated the security clearance of one decorated FBI employee. 

The subcommittee also was tasked with investigating the executive branch’s actions in ‘intruding and interfering with Americans’ constitutionally protected activity.’ 

For example, the subcommittee revealed ‘and stopped’ the FBI’s effort to target Catholic Americans because of their religious views; detailed the DOJ’s directives to target parents at school board meetings; stopped the Internal Revenue Service from making ‘unannounced visits to American taxpayers’ homes;’ caused the DOJ to change its internal policies to ‘respect the separation of powers and limit subpoenas for Legislative Branch employees; and highlighted the ‘vast warrantless surveillance of Americans by federal law enforcement.’ 

The panel also investigated the federal government’s election interference, highlighting the FBI’s ‘fervent efforts to ‘prebunk’ a story about the Biden family’s influence peddling scheme in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election.’ 

The panel also investigated and demonstrated how the 2020 Biden campaign ‘colluded with the intelligence community to falsely discredit this story as ‘Russian disinformation.’’

The report includes a list of hearings the subcommittee held, letters sent by the subcommittee and subpoenas issued by the panel.

It also includes depositions and transcribed interviews conducted by the subcommittee. The subcommittee conducted 99 depositions and transcribed interviews during this Congress.

Depositions and interviews included in the massive report are of former FBI officials and CIA officials, like former Director John Brennan, former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office involved in the original hush money probe against President Trump, Mark Pomerantz, and interviews with Facebook, Meta and Google officials.

A group of U.S. officials are in Syria’s capital for the first time in more than 10 years seeking information on American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime, among other things.

The team visiting Damascus consists of US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) Barbara Leaf and NEA Senior Adviser Daniel Rubinstein, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Rubinstein, who previously served as U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and has decades of foreign affairs experience, will lead the diplomatic engagement, the spokesperson confirmed. 

His mission is to engage with the Syrian people and key parties within the country. He also seeks to coordinate with allies to advance principles laid out in a meeting between world leaders in the Jordanian city of Aqaba earlier this month.

The trio will meet with the Syrian people to uncover their vision for their country after the Assad regime fell earlier this month amid an ongoing civil war. They will also ask how the U.S. can help support them in their desired future.

‘They will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices,’ the spokesperson said, in part.

The three officials will also meet with representatives of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a U.S.-designated terrorist group, to ‘discuss transition principles’ endorsed by the United States and regional partners in Aqaba, Jordan, the State Department said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken previously noted that world leaders discussed ‘the need for an inclusive, Syrian-led political transition’ during the Aqaba Meetings on Syria in Jordan on Dec. 14.

‘The United States supports a future government in Syria that is chosen by and representatives of all Syrians,’ Blinken said on X.

Another goal of the visit is to determine what has happened to American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime, including former marine turned freelance journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria in 2012.

Carstens has been leading the charge to locate Tice and recently shared that Rewards for Justice is offering up to $10 million for information on his whereabouts.

‘Given recent events in Syria, the FBI is renewing our call for information that could lead to the safe location, recovery, and return of Austin Bennett Tice, who was detained in Damascus in August 2012,’ the FBI said in a statement.

A bill to avert a partial government shutdown that was backed by President-elect Trump failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday night.

Congress is inching closer to the possibility of a partial shutdown, with the deadline coming at the end of Friday.

The bill needed two-thirds of the House chamber to pass, but failed to even net a majority. Two Democrats voted with the majority of Republicans to pass the bill, while 38 GOP lawmakers bucked Trump to oppose it.

The margin fell 174 to 235.

It comes after two days of chaos in Congress as lawmakers fought among themselves about a path forward on government spending – a fight joined by Trump and his allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Meanwhile, the national debt has climbed to over $36 trillion, and the national deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

The legislation was hastily negotiated on Thursday after GOP hardliners led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy rebelled against an initial bipartisan deal that would have extended the government funding deadline until March 14 and included a host of unrelated policy riders.

The new deal also includes several key policies unrelated to keeping the government open, but the 116-page bill is much narrower than its 1,547-page predecessor.

Like the initial bill, the new iteration extended the government funding deadline through March 14 while also suspending the debt limit – something Trump had pushed for.

It proposed to suspend the debt limit for two years until January 2027, still keeping it in Trump’s term but delaying that fight until after the 2026 Congressional midterm elections.

The new proposal also included roughly $110 billion in disaster relief aid for Americans affected by storms Milton and Helene, as well as a measure to cover the cost of rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was hit by a barge earlier this year.

Excluded from the second-round measure is the first pay raise for congressional lawmakers since 2009 and a measure aimed at revitalizing Washington, D.C.’s RFK stadium.

The text of the new bill was also significantly shorter – going from 1,547 pages to just 116.

‘All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

But the bill hit opposition before the legislative text was even released.

Democrats, furious at Johnson for reneging on their original bipartisan deal, chanted ‘Hell no’ in their closed-door conference meeting on Thursday night to debate the bill.

Nearly all House Democrats who left the meeting indicated they were voting against it.

Meanwhile, members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus also said they would vote against the bill.

‘Old bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $0 increase in the national credit card. New bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $4 TRILLION+ debt ceiling increase with $0 in structural reforms for cuts. Time to read the bill: 1.5 hours. I will vote no,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X.

A bill to avert a partial government shutdown that was backed by President-elect Trump failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday night.

Congress is inching closer to the possibility of a partial shutdown, with the deadline coming at the end of Friday.

The bill needed two-thirds of the House chamber to pass, but failed to even net a majority. Two Democrats voted with the majority of Republicans to pass the bill, while 38 GOP lawmakers bucked Trump to oppose it.

The margin fell to 174 to 235.

It comes after two days of chaos in Congress as lawmakers fought among themselves about a path forward on government spending – a fight joined by Trump and his allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Meanwhile, the national debt has climbed to over $36 trillion, and the national deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

The legislation was hastily negotiated on Thursday after GOP hardliners led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy rebelled against an initial bipartisan deal that would have extended the government funding deadline until March 14 and included a host of unrelated policy riders.

The new deal also includes several key policies unrelated to keeping the government open, but the 116-page bill is much narrower than its 1,547-page predecessor.

Like the initial bill, the new iteration extended the government funding deadline through March 14 while also suspending the debt limit – something Trump had pushed for.

It proposed to suspend the debt limit for two years until January 2027, still keeping it in Trump’s term but delaying that fight until after the 2026 Congressional midterm elections.

The new proposal also included roughly $110 billion in disaster relief aid for Americans affected by storms Milton and Helene, as well as a measure to cover the cost of rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was hit by a barge earlier this year.

Excluded from the second-round measure is the first pay raise for congressional lawmakers since 2009 and a measure aimed at revitalizing Washington, D.C.’s RFK stadium.

The text of the new bill was also significantly shorter – going from 1,547 pages to just 116.

‘All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

But the bill hit opposition before the legislative text was even released.

Democrats, furious at Johnson for reneging on their original bipartisan deal, chanted ‘Hell no’ in their closed-door conference meeting on Thursday night to debate the bill.

Nearly all House Democrats who left the meeting indicated they were voting against it.

Meanwhile, members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus also said they would vote against the bill.

‘Old bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $0 increase in the national credit card. New bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $4 TRILLION+ debt ceiling increase with $0 in structural reforms for cuts. Time to read the bill: 1.5 hours. I will vote no,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X.

The House of Representatives is set to imminently vote on a bill backed by President-elect Trump to avert a government shutdown.

It comes after two days of chaos in Congress as lawmakers fought amongst themselves about a path forward on government spending – a fight joined by Trump and his allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Meanwhile, the national debt has climbed to over $36 trillion, and the national deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

The legislation was hastily negotiated on Thursday after GOP hardliners led by Musk and Ramaswamy rebelled against an initial bipartisan deal that would have extended the government funding deadline until March 14 and included a host of unrelated policy riders.

The new deal also includes several key policies unrelated to keeping the government open, but the 116-page bill is much narrower than its 1,547-page predecessor.

Like the initial bill, the new iteration extended the government funding deadline through March 14 while also suspending the debt limit – something Trump had pushed for.

It proposed to suspend the debt limit for two years until January 2027, still keeping it in Trump’s term but delaying that fight until after the 2026 Congressional midterm elections.

The new proposal also included roughly $110 billion in disaster relief aid for Americans affected by storms Milton and Helene, as well as a measure to cover the cost of rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was hit by a barge earlier this year.

Excluded from the second-round measure is the first pay raise for congressional lawmakers since 2009 and a measure aimed at revitalizing Washington, D.C.’s RFK stadium.

The text of the new bill was also significantly shorter – going from 1,547 pages to just 116.

‘All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

But the bill hit opposition before the legislative text was even released.

Democrats, furious at Johnson for reneging on their original bipartisan deal, chanted ‘Hell no’ in their closed-door conference meeting on Thursday night to debate the bill.

Nearly all House Democrats who left the meeting indicated they were voting against it.

Meanwhile, members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus also said they would vote against the bill.

‘Old bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $0 increase in the national credit card. New bill: $110BB in deficit spending (unpaid for), $4 TRILLION+ debt ceiling increase with $0 in structural reforms for cuts. Time to read the bill: 1.5 hours. I will vote no,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X.

House Republicans have struck a deal on a backup plan for averting a government shutdown by Friday’s deadline.

Multiple sources told Fox News Digital the deal would extend current government funding levels for three months and also suspend the debt limit for two years, something President-elect Trump has demanded.

Trump praised the deal minutes after Fox News Digital reported its contents.

The deal also includes aid for farmers and roughly $110 billion in disaster relief funding for Americans affected by storms Helene and Milton.

It would also include certain health care provisions, minus reforms to the Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) system that some Republicans and Democrats were pushing for but that others vehemently opposed.

‘Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People,’ Trump wrote of the deal. ‘The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes.

‘All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!’.

Meanwhile, the national debt has recently exceeded $36 trillion and continues to grow. The national deficit is over $1 trillion.

Shortly after Fox News Digital’s report, House leaders released the legislative text of the bill. It came in at about 116 pages, a far cry from their original 1,547-page legislation.

It comes after conservatives led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy torpedoed Speaker Mike Johnson’s initial government funding plan Wednesday, prompting fears of a partial government shutdown right before the holidays.

GOP hardliners were furious about what they saw as unrelated measures and policy riders being added to the bill at the last minute.

House Republicans began negotiations for a ‘clean’ bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), but those were also upended when Trump urged GOP lawmakers to pair a CR with action on the debt limit, which was expected to be a contentious battle in the first half of next year.

Musk and Ramaswamy also lent their voices to the fight, with Musk calling on any Republican who supported the deal to lose their House seats.

The original plan, which was bipartisan, was declared ‘dead’ by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., as he left the U.S. Capitol Wednesday night.

In addition to averting a partial government shutdown through March 14, the bill also included a provision to allow for the revitalization of RFK stadium in Washington, D.C.; permits to sell ethanol fuel year-round; and the first pay raise for lawmakers since 2009.

House lawmakers may vote on the new bill as early as Thursday evening.

But it’s not immediately clear if it would pass. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also led opposition to the initial bill, also blasted the new deal.

‘More debt. More government. Increasing the Credit Card $4 trillion with ZERO spending restraint and cuts. HARD NO,’ Roy wrote on X.

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on the way into a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus, ‘The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious. It’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.’

Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report