US lawmakers reject Trump-backed bill | BBC News

The US House of Representatives has voted against a Donald Trump-backed funding measure, bringing a government shutdown a step closer.

A revised spending plan failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed in the lower chamber of Congress, with 38 Republicans voting against the bill on Thursday night, defying the president-elect.

After the bill failed by 174 votes to 235, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would come up with another solution before government funding lapses at midnight on Friday.

The Trump-approved replacement bill would have tied government funding to a two-year suspension of the federal debt limit, which determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills.

Unlike in much of the rest of the world, government shutdowns in the US happen relatively often due to a 1980 act which basically ruled that without a budget there can be no spending.