Trump Throws a Holiday Hand Grenade: Bipartisan Funding Plan Blown to Smithereens

WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Donald Trump caused widespread shock and chaos in Washington on Wednesday when he abruptly rejected a bipartisan plan that had been hailed as a viable solution to preventing a Christmastime government shutdown. The decision sent Capitol Hill into a frenzy, as Democrat and Republican lawmakers scrambled to respond to the eleventh-hour demands made by the incoming leader.

Days before the United States government faces a December 23rd deadline to pass a new spending bill, Trump threw his weight behind a revised proposal that abandoned the consensus that had been building on Capitol Hill. The about-face has plunged Washington into crisis mode, with House Speaker Paul Ryan expressing his disappointment at the breakdown in talks and acknowledging that Trump ‘changed the parameters’ of the negotiations.

Trump had previously signaled that he was on board with a compromise that would have temporarily funded the government until April of next year, granting lawmakers a brief reprieve to iron out their differences and come up with a more comprehensive spending package. But, early on Wednesday, the President-elect appeared to have second thoughts and demanded a range of contentious changes that pushed the envelope for many lawmakers.

According to sources familiar with the talks, Trump called for significant boosts in defense spending, coupled with deep cuts to domestic programs that have long been a priority for Democrats. He also requested – and secured – Republican support for a raft of contentious immigration measures that include constructing a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, dramatically scaling back refugee admissions, and deporting millions of undocumented immigrants.

But the surprise demands left many in Congress reeling, with some accusing Trump of trying to strong-arm lawmakers into agreeing to his – and only his – vision for America. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the President-elect for an eleventh-hour wish list that ‘reads like a far-right Christmas list’, adding that the latest twist in this ongoing saga will ‘only serve to inflame tensions in the country and lead to more gridlock in Washington’.

However, Trump remained defiant in the face of mounting criticism, pinning the blame for the collapse on Schumer and other Democratic leaders, who he claimed are more ‘interested in grandstanding and scoring cheap points against him rather than serving the American people’. The developments have fueled fears that the U.S. may indeed be staring into the abyss of a shutdown – its third in just four years.