Donald Trump-backed spending deal to avert government shutdown fails in US House
India TodayA spending bill backed by Donald Trump failed in the US House of Representatives on Thursday as dozens of Republicans defied the president-elect, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown that could disrupt Christmas travel. Trump had pressured lawmakers to tie up loose ends before he takes office on Jan. 20, but members of the party's right flank refused to support a package that would increase spending and clear the way for a plan that would add trillions more to the federal government's $36 trillion in debt. At Trump's urging, the new version also would have suspended limits on the national debt for two years -- a maneuver that would make it easier to pass the dramatic tax cuts he has promised. The unrest also threatened to topple Johnson, a mild-mannered Louisianan who was thrust unexpectedly into the speaker's office last year after the party's right flank voted out then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy over a government funding bill.