A closed-door meeting of Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill spiraled into a raucous revolt of the new GOP spending bill that influenced repeated chants of “Hell no!”
“This is not serious. It's laughable,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. “Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.”
Jeffries’ comments came as members of the House Democratic caucus huddled in the Capitol basement to weigh their options after the collapse of a temporary spending bill on Wednesday, egged on by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Republicans quickly assembled a new plan to fund the government but questions remain whether there is enough GOP support to push it through.
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The chanting of members that was audible from outside the meeting room signals the Democrats’ opposition to the new spending bill that earned President-elect Donald Trump’s seal of approval earlier in the day.
"The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes," Trump in a social media post, adding that it punted the debt ceiling until 2027.
Lawmakers face a looming deadline to keep the government from shutting down at midnight Friday.
