Haberman weighs in on GOP spending bill turmoil: 'Not a great start'

The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman weighed in Wednesday on the recent turmoil faced by the GOP surrounding the government funding deal after President-elect Trump effectively torpedoed it.

“But at the end of the day, as you said, it's now very uncertain what is going to happen,” Haberman told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “Not entirely clear what Donald Trump wants, other than that he wants the debt ceiling raised before he takes the presidency, because he doesn't wanna have that happen, you know, on his watch. And that's fine, except that that's not necessarily how this is going to work.”

“Will there be a shutdown? Who knows, but this is not a great start, for, you know, what will be a unified Republican government,” she added.

Trump and some of his allies have recently pushed against a government funding deal negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), even as a Friday deadline to avoid a government shutdown has loomed. Johnson's Speakership has even been thrown into question as some GOP lawmakers indicated they won't back him.

“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” tech billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday on social platform X. 

In a statement from Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance on Wednesday, the 2024 running mates urged Republicans to approve a clean stopgap bill alongside raising the debt ceiling, saying that the funding deal negotiated by Johnson should be shot down.

“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025,” the statement reads. “The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country. Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH.”

On Wednesday night, Collins asked Haberman what the recent funding turmoil indicates about the GOP's upcoming trifecta.

“Yeah, well, number one, it raises real questions about Mike Johnson and how he is going to go forward,” Haberman replied. “You know, he is somebody who has worked very hard to try to have a — a good relationship with Trump, and try to channel what Trump wants. And he has been trying to do that during this whole process. And here we are.”

The Hill has reached out to the House Republican Conference, Johnson’s office, the Trump transition team, incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thune's office (S.D.) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's (Ky.) office.