By a vote of 174-235 on Thursday, the House rejected the spending package, which was hastily assembled by Republican leaders after Trump and billionaire Elon Musk scuttled a prior bipartisan deal.
Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday. If lawmakers fail to extend that deadline, the US government will begin a partial shutdown that would interrupt funding for everything from border enforcement to national parks and cut off paycheques for more than two million federal workers. The US Transportation Security Administration warned that travellers during the busy holiday season could face long lines at airports.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson says the spending package would avoid disruption. (AP PHOTO)
The bill largely resembled the earlier version that Musk and Trump had blasted as a wasteful giveaway to Democrats. It would have extended government funding into March, when Trump will be in the White House and Republicans will control both chambers of Congress, and provided $US100 billion ($A160 billion) in disaster relief and suspended the debt. Republicans dropped other elements that had been included in the original package, such as a pay raise for lawmakers and new rules for pharmacy benefit managers.
At Trump's urging, the new version also would have suspended limits on the national debt for two years -- a manoeuvre that would make it easier to pass the dramatic tax cuts he has promised and set the stage for the federal government's $US36 trillion ($A58 trillion) in debt to continue to climb.
Ahead of the vote, Democrats and Republicans warned that the other party would be at fault if Congress allowed the government to shut down.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters the package would avoid disruption, tie up loose ends and make it easier for lawmakers to cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars when Trump takes office on January 20.
"Government is too big, it does too many things, and it does few things well," he said.
Democrats blasted the bill as a cover for a budget-busting tax cut that would largely benefit wealthy backers such as Musk, the world's richest person, while saddling the country with trillions of dollars in additional debt.
"How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility, ever?" House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said during floor debate.
House Republicans have been ordered by right-wing extremists to shut down the government.— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) Who will be hurt?The American people. pic.twitter.com/95s12wxd18December 19, 2024
Some Republicans likewise objected that it would clear the way for more debt while failing to reduce spending.
"I am absolutely sickened by the party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility," Republican Representative Chip Roy said.
Even if the bill had passed the House, it would have faced long odds in the Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats. The White House said Democratic President Joe Biden did not support it.
Trump had urged lawmakers to vote for the package and take the debt ceiling off the table before he takes office again.
Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets, as a US government default would send credit shocks around the world. The limit has been suspended under an agreement that technically expires on Jan. 1, though lawmakers likely will not have to tackle the issue before the spring.
