US Government Shutdown Updates | Trump Latest News | Mike Johnson Live | GOP Live | US News| N18G

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Friday (December 20th) that would avert a midnight government shutdown, defying President-elect Donald Trump's demand to also greenlight trillions of dollars in new debt.

After the vote, Congressional leaders from both parties claimed victory, with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson heralding the bill as “America First legislation” and Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying they had “stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government”.

Next, the Democratic-controlled Senate would need to pass the bill to ensure the government will be funded beyond midnight (0500 GMT Saturday), when current funding expires. The White House said President Joe Biden intends to sign it into law if they do.

The legislation would extend government funding until March 14, provide $100 billion for disaster-hit states and $10 billion for farmers. It would not raise the debt ceiling -- a difficult task Trump has pushed Congress to do before he takes office on Jan. 20.

Johnson also said that Republicans would have more power to influence government spending next year, when they will have majorities in both chambers of Congress and Trump will be in the White House.

"This was a necessary step to bridge the gap, to put us into that moment where we can put our fingerprints on the final decisions on spending," he told reporters after the vote. He said Trump supported the package.