US HOUSE FAILS TO PASS REPUBLICAN BILL TO AVERT SHUTDOWN AFTER TRUMP SINKS BIPARTISAN AGREEMENT

 WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The US House of Representatives failed on Thursday to pass a new Republican spending Bill after President-elect Donald Trump sank a bipartisan stopgap Bill, leaving lawmakers just one day to approve new funding to avert a government shutdown, reported Xinhua.

 The vote was 174-235, with Democrats and some conservatives opposing the new funding Bill crafted by House Republican leaders after Trump objected to a stopgap funding Bill previously agreed upon by both parties.

"We are voting NO on this Bill, and to stop this reckless regressive and reactionary Republican shutdown," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the Lower Chamber, said on the House floor.

The 116-page Bill released on Thursday would fund the government at current levels until March 14, and would also extend the nation's debt limit through Jan 30, 2027, at a last-minute request from Trump.

A previously unveiled 1,500-page Bill mainly allows the government to maintain its current spending levels for the next three months, providing lawmakers with additional time to negotiate new spending Bills. It also includes US$100 billion in disaster relief and a one-year extension of the farm Bill with an extra US$10 billion in aid for farmers.

"We should pass a streamlined spending Bill that doesn't give the Democrats everything they want," Vice President-elect and Senator JD Vance said in a joint statement with Trump on Wednesday.

"The only way to do that is with a temporary funding Bill without Democrat giveaways combined with an increase in the debt ceiling," said the statement, pressuring the Democrats to cooperate on a debt ceiling increase immediately.

The latest development leaves Congress without a clear path to avoid a looming government shutdown, which is set to take place at the end of Friday.  

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA