As shutdown looms, government funding plan in jeopardy after Trump demands

WASHINGTON -- With a government shutdown looming by the end of the week, congressional Republicans are facing pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk to drop the funding bill they negotiated with Democrats and vote on one that would extend spending at current levels and ditch add-ons like relief for disaster victims and farmers.

In a joint statement, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance called on Congress to "pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn't give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want."

"Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief," Trump and Vance said.

The House has no more votes scheduled tonight and it's unclear when a vote might occur. Speaker Mike Johnson was huddling with members and staff in his office to find a path forward.

Earlier Wednesday, Musk came out against the bill, going so far as to threaten lawmakers who vote for it.

After posting on X that "This bill should not pass," Musk escalated his rhetoric, warning that "any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!"

"Please call your elected representatives right away to tell them how you feel! They are trying to get this passed today while no one is paying attention," he implored his over 200 million followers.

SEE MORE: 'Total dumpster fire': Republicans fume over speaker's spending plan days from shutdown deadline

He later posted that "No bills should be passed Congress until Jan 20, when @realDonaldTrump takes office."

Congress faces a deadline of Friday, when the current government funding extension expires, for a shutdown.

Republican leaders have been discussing a clean short-term funding bill, but specifics are unclear, sources told ABC News. This comes less than a day after Republicans unveiled the legislative text that was the product of bipartisan and bicameral negotiations.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled opposition to any new plan, warning: "You break bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow."

House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about Musk's post during an interview on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday morning. He appeared to not worry about Musk's post influencing the ability of the funding bill to get through both chambers ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday.

"I was communicating with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek [Ramaswamy] and I are on a text chain together and I was explaining to them the background of this. Vivek and I talked last night about midnight, and he said 'look I get it.' He said, 'We understand you're in an impossible position,'" Johnson said.

Johnson said Musk and Ramaswamy, the two DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) leaders, are aware of the tough spot the speaker is in with a slim majority and Democratic control of the Senate and White House. DOGE is an outside-of-government (or private) operation.

"We gotta get this done because here's the key. By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the American first agenda. That's what we are going to run with gusto beginning January 3 when we start the new Congress," he said.

Johnson urged for Congress to pass this funding bill "so we don't have a shutdown."

"We get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. That is where the big changes start," Johnson said.

Johnson, whose speakership has been characterized by beating back criticism from his far-right flank, had originally promised a clean bill that would solely extend current levels of government funding to prevent a shutdown. However, natural disasters and headwinds for farmers, necessitated additional federal spending.

In the end, the bill included $100 billion for recovery efforts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and another $10 billion for economic assistance for farmers.

Johnson at a press conference said his hands were tied after "acts of God" necessitated additional money.

"It was intended to be, and it was, until recent days, a very simple, very clean [continuing resolution], stopgap funding measure to get us into next year when we have unified government," he said. "We had these massive hurricanes in the late fall, Helene and Milton, and other disasters. We have to make sure that the Americans that were devastated by these hurricanes get the relief they need."

Still, Republican spending hawks cried foul, accusing Johnson of stocking the bill with new spending without any way to pay for it and keeping the bill's creation behind closed doors.

"We're just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can't shrink the government. If you can't shrink the government, you can't live free," Texas Rep. Chip Roy said.

Musk, too, mocked the size of the bill.

"Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?" he posted on X, along with a picture of the bill stacked on a desk.

ABC News' Rachel Scott and Katerine Faulders contributed to this report.