Christmas miracle? Government shutdown averted

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House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters after the House vote on Friday to pass a "skinny continuing resolution" to keep government operating through mid-March.

A government shutdown was avoided late Saturday as a pared-down temporary funding package headed to President Joe Biden’s desk. In the end, the 1,500-page funding package, which had been packed with Democrat-driven spending was whittled down to 118 pages by the U.S. House, keeping the government open until March 14.

The continuing resolution was expected to be signed by Biden Saturday and the Office and Management and Budget put a hold on government shutdown preparations.

“In addition to preserving pay for our brave men and women in uniform, the continuing resolution I voted for tonight includes an important $110 billion disaster-relief package,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan. “My team and I worked hard to include language that will specifically help our communities dealing with serious natural disasters, like the devastating flood in Juneau and landslides in Southeast. That being said, I believe that the process by which these last minute government funding bills are negotiated is fundamentally broken. President Trump was right to call attention to the initial bill—1,500 pages, written behind closed doors, and released with just hours to review. In the new Congress, I will be pressing my colleagues for a return to regular order in crafting a budget, a process that will better serve Alaskans and all Americans.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, “There is never, ever a time when a government shutdown is a good thing for Americans or Alaskans. I’m relieved that cooler heads prevailed and a needless shutdown was avoided. Additionally, I was able to secure several critical provisions that will help Alaskans, including a desperately needed $300 million that will refill our fisheries disaster account, ensuring that our hardworking fishermen will have the support they need to get back on the water.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson had introduced a massive 1,547-page continuing resolution that had been negotiated with Democrats, but was given to Republican members with only hours for them to read it before voting on it. The conservative House members voted with the Democrats to kill it, and President Donald Trump, along with tens of thousands of people using the X social media site, condemned the entire process. For the first time in history, Americans had the ability to shape, in real time, a funding bill.

That public pressure, led by Elon Musk, who is in the Trump inner circle and has the role of rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in government, resulted in a “skinny CR, that cut almost all Democrat demands. It passed the House late Friday afternoon, and passed the Senate on Friday night.

“This America First legislation delivers much-needed relief for Americans devastated by the hurricanes and our hardworking farmers, and it sets up President Trump to start delivering on DAY ONE,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.

29 COMMENTS

    • Was better than the 1547 page pork filled Cramnibus bill. We’re you ready to give up your rights to see what congress really does? Creating a 2 tiered justice system to protect the J6 committee and what really occurred that day. How many feds were really present? They only told us 26 snitches were in the crowd.

  1. Interesting that Lisa can comment on the Guv’Ment Shutdown but has nothing else important to say about Guv’Ment // Political malfeasance! Once again, proving herself (aka: Daddy’s Little Princess) her worthlessness and detriment to Alaska and Alaskans!!!

  2. I would have voted to let the government shut down. And wait a couple weeks or a month to go by and let Elon and Vivak man the doors back in and only allow the vital ones back in. Gret opportunity for DOGE to cull the herd.

      • The slimmed-down version was stripped of language that would have allowed children with relapsed cancer to undergo treatments with a combination of cancer drugs and therapies. (Currently the Food and Drug Administration is only authorized to direct pediatric cancer trials of single drugs.) The bill also didn’t include an extension of a program that gave financial lifelines, in the form of vouchers, to small pharmaceutical companies working on rare pediatric diseases. It was also missing earlier provisions that would have allowed for kids on Medicaid or CHIP—that is, poor children—to access medically complex care across state lines. There’s my research McKinley!

  3. The planet won’t quit spinning if the feds shut down. The government is the problem not the solution and ours is out of control. We are paying people that don’t ever have to show up for work. In fact most of them don’t know what work is. The feds have only 1 job to protect us at our boarders and they have fallen down on that mission.

  4. The miracle is that Musk and Ramaswamy, who are working for the American taxpayer for $0 compensation, were able to muster enough congressional support to stop the original Continuing Resolution. They did it with a tidal wave of public outcry through X, and other media once the protests became too loud to ignore. This must continue until congress learns that they work for us, and continuing to spend way beyond our means is an existential threat to our county and to the people of America.

  5. Johnson. Do the right thing and step down. This is the second time you have had a terminal failure. You are either compromised or just a trader or incapable. You were saved last time by the Left. Do the right thing and step down now.

  6. Congress has not passed a budget for decades, just unconstitutional “continuing resolutions”. Debt spending is for emergencies, not waste as usual. Speaker Johnson betrayed us a second time making budget deals with schumer & swampsters. We haven’t had a president for four years, illegal alien invasion, two tier injustice with pardons for despicables, school programs to indoctrinate not educate, enemy spy balloon cleared to fly across entire continent, just to scratch the surface of their suicide plan. And they vote their own pay raises! It’s almost as shameful as our farcical Juneau retreads. There are a few good folks looking to right the ship, God help them to cut the noose.

  7. Wow, that was just too close for me. I was really worried that I might have to go back to work. My kitchen still needs painting!

    Signed,

    Federal employee “working” from home.

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