政府拨款法案获得国会批准并提交给拜登总统，避免政府关门
【中美创新时报2024 年 12 月 21 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）面对政府关门的最后期限，参议院于周六早些时候匆忙通过了一项两党计划的最终决议，该计划将暂时为联邦运营和灾难援助提供资金，将当选总统唐纳德·特朗普提出的提高债务上限的要求推迟到新的一年。美联社记者LISA MASCARO、FARNOUSH AMIRI 和 MATT BROWN 对此作了下述报道。
众议院议长迈克·约翰逊坚称国会将“履行我们的义务”，不允许联邦运营在圣诞假期前关闭。但当天的结果并不确定，因为特朗普加倍坚持要求在任何协议中都包括提高债务上限的内容——如果不行，他在清晨的帖子中说，就让关闭“现在开始”。
众议院以压倒性多数通过了约翰逊的新法案，366 票赞成、34 票反对。参议院加班加点，在截止日期刚过后以 85 票赞成、11 票反对的结果通过了该法案。午夜时分，白宫表示已停止关闭准备工作。
“这对国家来说是个好结果，”约翰逊在众议院投票后表示，并补充说他已经与特朗普交谈过，当选总统“当然也对这个结果感到高兴。”
总统乔·拜登在动荡的一周中扮演的公开角色较少，预计他将于周六签署该法案。
“不会出现政府关门的情况，”参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默说。
最终成果是陷入困境的众议院议长约翰逊第三次尝试实现联邦政府的基本要求之一——保持政府开放。这引发了人们的强烈质疑：在愤怒的共和党同僚面前，约翰逊能否保住工作，并与特朗普和亿万富翁盟友埃隆·马斯克一起工作，后者在远处指挥立法行动。
特朗普最后一刻的要求几乎是一个不可能实现的要求，约翰逊几乎别无选择，只能绕过特朗普提高债务上限的压力。议长知道，共和党多数派不会有足够的支持来通过任何融资方案，因为许多共和党赤字鹰派人士更愿意削减联邦政府，当然不会允许更多债务。
相反，共和党明年将完全控制白宫、众议院和参议院，制定了税收的宏伟计划削减和其他优先事项，表明他们必须经常依靠民主党人来获得维持政府日常运作所需的选票。
“这是共和党的法案还是民主党的法案？”投票前，马斯克在社交媒体上嘲笑道。
大幅缩减的 118 页一揽子计划将为政府提供截至 3 月 14 日的现有资金，并增加 1000 亿美元的灾难援助和 100 亿美元的农业援助给农民。
特朗普要求提高债务上限的要求已经不复存在，共和党领导人告诉议员们，将在新年的税收和边境一揽子计划中讨论这一要求。共和党人达成了一项所谓的“握手协议”，以提高当时的债务上限，同时削减 10 年内 2.5 万亿美元的支出。
这基本上就是前一天晚上以惨败告终的同一项协议——遭到大多数民主党人和一些最保守的共和党人的反对——只是没有特朗普提出的债务上限要求。
但这份法案比约翰逊与民主党和共和党领导人达成的最初两党协议要小得多——一份长达 1,500 页的法案，遭到特朗普和马斯克的拒绝，迫使他重新开始。这份法案中塞满了一长串其他法案——包括备受嘲讽的议员加薪——但也包括其他得到两党广泛支持的措施，这些措施现在要成为法律的难度更大了。
在约翰逊违背来之不易的两党妥协后，众议院民主党人对最新的努力很冷淡。
拨款委员会的民主党高层众议员罗莎·德劳罗表示，看起来世界上最富有的人马斯克在为特朗普和共和党发号施令。
“谁说了算？”她在辩论中问道。
尽管如此，众议院民主党人为该法案的通过投的票比共和党人多。近三十多名保守的众议院共和党人投了反对票。
众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯 (Hakeem Jeffries) 表示：“众议院民主党人成功阻止了极端的‘让美国再次伟大’ (MAGA) 共和党人关闭政府、摧毁经济并伤害全国工薪阶层美国人。”他指的是特朗普的“让美国再次伟大”口号。
在参议院，几乎所有的反对意见都来自共和党人——除了独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯 (Bernie Sanders)，他表示马斯克的干预“不是民主，而是寡头政治”。
尚未宣誓就职的特朗普展示了他对国会的影响力，但也展示了其影响力的局限性，他与领导新政府效率部的马斯克一起在海湖庄园干预和协调事务。
即将上任的特朗普政府誓言削减联邦预算并解雇数千名员工，并指望共和党人出台大规模税收方案。特朗普并不像立法者那样害怕政府关门，他在白宫的第一个任期内就引发了历史上最长的政府关门事件。
“如果政府要关门，那就现在开始吧，”特朗普一大早就在社交媒体上发帖称。
对于这位当选总统来说，更重要的是，他要求在返回白宫之前，将棘手的债务上限辩论搁置一边。联邦债务上限将于 1 月 1 日到期，特朗普不希望在新政府上任的头几个月里，在国会进行艰难的谈判，以提高国家的借贷能力。现在，约翰逊将承担起实现这一目标的责任。
“国会必须取消荒谬的债务上限，或者可能延长到 2029 年，”特朗普发帖称——他要求在五年内再次提高债务上限。“没有这个，我们就永远无法达成协议。”
政府工作人员已经被告知要为联邦政府关门做好准备，因为关门将导致数百万雇员——以及军人——在假期期间领不到薪水。
拜登一直在与杰弗里斯和舒默讨论，但白宫新闻秘书卡琳娜·让-皮埃尔表示：“共和党人破坏了这笔交易。他们确实破坏了，他们需要解决这个问题。”
随着时间的流逝，参议院共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔介入，提醒同事们“关闭政府是多么有害，打赌自己一方不会为此承担责任是多么愚蠢。”
有一次，约翰逊在午餐会议上要求众议院共和党人举手表决，因为他们试图选择前进的道路。
这不仅仅是政府关门，议长的工作也岌岌可危。议长的选举是新一届国会的第一次投票，新一届国会将于 1 月 3 日召开，一些特朗普的盟友已经提名马斯克担任议长。
约翰逊说，他在周五投票前与马斯克进行了交谈，他们谈到了“这份工作面临的非凡挑战”。
美联社记者凯文·弗里金 (Kevin Freking)、斯蒂芬·格罗夫斯 (Stephen Groves)、玛丽·克莱尔·贾洛尼克 (Mary Clare Jalonick)、达琳·苏佩维尔 (Darlene Superville) 和比尔·巴罗 (Bill Barrow) 对本报告做出了贡献。
题图：12 月 21 日，工作人员在华盛顿美国国会大厦参议院接待室等待参议院完成对政府拨款法案的投票。Kent Nishimura/Getty
附原英文报道：
Government funding bill clears Congress and heads to President Biden, averting a shutdown
By LISA MASCARO, FARNOUSH AMIRI and MATT BROWN The Associated Press,Updated December 21, 2024
Staff members wait in the Senate Reception room for the Senate to finish voting on a government funding bill at the US Capitol, on Dec. 21, in Washington.Kent Nishimura/Getty
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the day’s outcome was uncertain after Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now.”
The House approved Johnson’s new bill overwhelmingly, 366-34. The Senate worked into the night to pass it, 85-11, just after the deadline. At midnight, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.
“This is a good outcome for the country, ” Johnson said after the House vote, adding he had spoken with Trump and the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”
President Joe Biden, who has played a less public role in the process throughout a turbulent week, was expected to sign the measure into law Saturday.
“There will be no government shutdown,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered House speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. And it raised stark questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry GOP colleagues, and work alongside Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who called the legislative plays from afar.
Trump’s last-minute demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around his pressure for a debt ceiling increase. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the GOP majority to pass any funding package, since many Republican deficit hawks prefer to slash the federal government and certainly wouldn’t allow more debt.
Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate next year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.
“So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill?” scoffed Musk on social media ahead of the vote.
The drastically slimmed-down 118-page package would fund the government at current levels through March 14 and add $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.
Gone is Trump’s demand to lift the debt ceiling, which GOP leaders told lawmakers would be debated as part of their tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.
It’s essentially the same deal that flopped the night before in a spectacular setback — opposed by most Democrats and some of the most conservative Republicans — minus Trump’s debt ceiling demand.
But it’s far smaller than the original bipartisan accord Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.
House Democrats were cool to the latest effort after Johnson reneged on the hard-fought bipartisan compromise.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, was calling the shots for Trump and Republicans.
“Who is in charge?” she asked during the debate.
Still, the House Democrats put up more votes than Republicans for the bill’s passage. Almost three dozen conservative House Republicans voted against it.
“The House Democrats have successfully stopped extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down the government, crashing the economy and hurting working-class Americans all across the nation,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
In the Senate, almost all the opposition came from the Republicans — except independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said Musk’s interference was “not democracy, that’s oligarchy.”
Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.
The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and fire thousands of employees and is counting on Republicans for a big tax package. And Trump’s not fearful of shutdowns the way lawmakers are, having sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted early in the morning on social media.
More important for the president-elect was his demand for pushing the thorny debt ceiling debate off the table before he returns to the White House. The federal debt limit expires Jan. 1, and Trump doesn’t want the first months of his new administration saddled with tough negotiations in Congress to lift the nation’s borrowing capacity. Now Johnson will be on the hook to deliver.
“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump posted — increasing his demand for a new five-year debt limit increase. “Without this, we should never make a deal.”
Government workers had already been told to prepare for a federal shutdown that would send millions of employees — and members of the military — into the holiday season without paychecks.
Biden has been in discussions with Jeffries and Schumer, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this.”
As the day dragged on, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell stepped in to remind colleagues “how harmful it is to shut the government down, and how foolish it is to bet your own side won’t take the blame for it.”
At one point, Johnson asked House Republicans at a lunchtime meeting for a show of hands as they tried to choose the path forward.
It wasn’t just the shutdown, but the speaker’s job on the line. The speaker’s election is the first vote of the new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, and some Trump allies have floated Musk for speaker.
Johnson said he spoke to Musk ahead of the vote Friday and they talked about the “extraordinary challenges of this job.”
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.
