J.D. Vance Tees Off On Democrats Over Looming Shutdown: ‘Bullsh*t’
Vice President-elect JD Vance met with Speaker Mike Johnson and several Republican lawmakers on Thursday evening, just hours after the House of Representatives failed to pass a spending deal.
Vance joined Johnson and other Republicans in the Speaker’s office to discuss government funding as the Friday shutdown deadline loomed. As of Friday morning, the path forward for Republicans and whether a shutdown could be averted remained uncertain.
While walking through the hallway, a reporter asked Vance, “Mr. Vance, will you accept any deal that does not include a debt limit increase?”
Vance responded sharply, stating, “Look, I’ll say one thing. The Democrats just voted to shut down the government, even though we had a clean CR, because they didn’t want to give the president negotiating leverage during his first term — during the first year of his new term. And number two, because they would rather shut down the government and fight for global censorship bullsh*t. They’ve asked for a shutdown, and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to.”
As Vance walked away, reporters continued to shout questions about the spending bill and the GOP’s next steps.
On Thursday night, the House of Representatives failed to pass President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed bill to prevent a partial government shutdown.
With Friday’s deadline approaching, Congress faced the growing prospect of a partial shutdown. The bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass but did not even secure a simple majority. Among the votes, 38 Republicans opposed Trump’s plan, while two Democrats joined most Republicans in supporting it. Ultimately, the bill failed by a vote of 174 to 235.
The defeat followed two chaotic days in Congress, marked by disputes over federal spending. Trump and his allies, including Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, played an active role in the debate.
Meanwhile, the national deficit stands at over $1.8 trillion, and the national debt has soared past $36 trillion.
The legislation, hastily drafted on Thursday, came after GOP hardliners, led by Musk and Ramaswamy, rejected an earlier bipartisan agreement. That agreement would have extended the federal funding deadline to March 14 but included several unrelated policy riders.
While the new bill’s 116 pages were far fewer than its 1,547-page predecessor, it still addressed multiple significant issues unrelated to government funding.
The revised legislation, which Trump strongly advocated for, suspended the debt ceiling and extended the federal funding deadline to March 14. This move aimed to delay further fiscal battles until after the 2026 Congressional midterm elections, maintaining the debt limit for two years until January 2027.
The package also proposed nearly $110 billion in disaster relief funds for Americans affected by storms Milton and Helene. Additionally, it included funding for the reconstruction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, damaged earlier this year by a barge.
Notably, the second-round measure omitted certain elements present in the initial version, such as the first congressional salary increase since 2009 and a plan to revitalize RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
Trump encouraged bipartisan support for the revised bill, posting on Truth Social: “All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote ‘YES’ for this Bill, TONIGHT!”
However, the bill faced opposition even before its full text was released. During a closed-door conference on Thursday night, Democrats vehemently opposed the plan, with some reportedly shouting “Hell no” at Johnson for backing away from the earlier bipartisan agreement.