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Funding Plan Expected to Fail Amid GOP Revolt and Democratic Opposition; Luigi Mangione Makes First Court Appearance in New York; Now, House Voting on Trump-Backed Bill to Avert Shutdown. Trump-Backed Bill To Avert Shutdown Fails In The House. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 19, 2024 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, we're standing by for a vote this hour on a new deal to avert a government shutdown. That plan quickly cobbled together by Republicans after Donald Trump blew up the previous bill. That bill is expected now to fail amid a conservative revolt and Democratic, very strong Democratic opposition. The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is about to address the news media. We'll bring that to you in just a few moments as soon as it begins.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

We begin our coverage tonight with the breaking news up on Capitol Hill, very important, very dramatic breaking news that could affect millions of Americans, the last-minute scramble to avert a government shutdown after Donald Trump tanked a bipartisan agreement.

Our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is up on Capitol Hill with details. Manu, so what is happening right now?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, frantic negotiations all day long, trying to meet Donald Trump's 11th hour demands that led to the collapse of a bipartisan deal to avert a government shutdown. A 1,500-page bill was unveiled just a couple of days ago as a result of bipartisan negotiations between the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, as well as other congressional leaders gave with the support of the White House, look like it was on the glide path to become enacted into law until Donald Trump and after Elon Musk came out to oppose it, came out and said he too was opposed and also inserted some 11th hour demands, that one critical demand, to deal with the national debt limit.

Of course, if the debt limit is breached, that would lead to the first ever debt default in U.S. history. But that was not expected to be dealt with until the middle of next year sometime. But Donald Trump came in late and said that must be dealt with now to take out of his plate so he doesn't have to deal with it in his turn.

That has led to a whole day of back and forth among Republicans, trying to make sure that Donald Trump is satisfied, but also trying to get the support of Democrats. But Democrats are indicating they are not on board. They don't like the late changes. They don't like how they were excluded from the talks. And they are concerned by agreeing to this change on the debt limit to suspend it for two years, as the Republicans are now trying to do, that that essentially would green light their efforts to push through a major tax plan for Donald Trump in the New Year.

All of this is making it very clear that this vote on the floor of this revised plan that Donald Trump himself supports will fail in just a matter of moments, not just because of Democratic concern, but because conservative Republicans are revolting as well. They don't like that debt limit suspension. They believe there should be more cuts, spending cuts as well, meaning that Donald Trump will fail to win over most -- some members of his party on the far right.

And one thing to watch, Wolf, the process that is being used here would require two thirds majority of the House, all members of here, that would mean 290 votes. That is a very high threshold to get to, which means that, at the moment, this looks like it's going to fail. And they're going to have to figure out what to do next, because the government shutdown looms by 11:59 P.M. tomorrow night. That is the deadline to avert one.

What happens next? A major question as Washington once again is in a crisis mode.

BLITZER: Given this legislative procedure, a two thirds vote is almost impossible right now based on everything we're hearing. So, Manu, what happens next if this fails?

RAJU: That's a major question, Wolf. It is really unclear what will happen next. We'll have to go back to the drawing board. Speaker Johnson will have to either come up with even a narrower plan, maybe try to keep the government open for a short period of time. Will Democrats go along with that? Will Donald Trump go along with that?

Donald Trump, all day long, has been demanding that debt limit increase because he does not want to deal with it next year. Will he be okay backing off that demand? Those are all key questions they're going to have to confront, or will Speaker Johnson defy Donald Trump in some way, potentially putting his own speakership at risk when he votes on the -- House votes on January 3rd to reelect him as speaker or find a new speaker. All questions for Johnson's future, all questions for the GOP as they try to grapple with Donald Trump coming into power, and all questions, of course, for the millions of Americans who could be affected by what could be a crippling government shutdown. If there is one, it could take some time to come out of one.

So, huge questions right now, Wolf, is this is a jittery Congress, an uncertain future, and a bit of a panic that's happening on Capitol Hill as they confront what's next.

[18:05:08] BLITZER: Yes. And it wouldn't just affect federal workers, it would affect millions of Americans who rely on various levels of support from the federal government.

Manu, how did this bill come together and now appear to fall apart in just a matter of a few hours?

RAJU: Yes, Wolf. This is all the product of the really scramble by the speaker of the House. Remember, this deal when it was cut just a couple of days ago with a bipartisan deal, it appeared that there was going to be very little opposition from Democrats. Democrats, for the most part, were going to support this. We would expect some Republicans on the right to oppose this. But then more and more Republicans started to come out against it. Conservative Republicans started to go through this bill. They started to find things they didn't like. Elon Musk came out and opposed this plan as well. And then when Donald Trump came out and made those demands, that changed things all together, Wolf.

So, this has led to this chaotic moment for Speaker Johnson to try to figure out something that could appease Donald Trump, something that could get his party mostly in line. We'll hear what the speaker says in a matter of moments as he comes out. Will he get a majority of his conference? And what's next for him? It's unclear if he knows what's next as well, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. As soon as he walks through that microphone, the speaker, Mike Johnson, will have live coverage of that. We'll stand by for that.

Manu, I want you to stick around. We're going to get your analysis. That's coming up as well. Our political experts are joining me right now. Gloria Borger, let me start with you. Trump is touting this new version that's about to fail, a success in Washington a few hours ago, that's what he tweeted.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Is success failure?

BLITZER: And he urged Republicans to support it. How much influence does he really have though?

BORGER: Well, Donald Trump has a lot of influence, in one sense, because he threw a grenade into the process and destroyed the bipartisan bill that had been agreed to and that Johnson had gone to him with, I'm assuming at the Army-Navy game and at Mar-a-Lago, et cetera, et cetera. So, he does have a large amount of influence. On the other hand, so does Elon Musk, who blew this bill up too. And what they've offered on Capitol Hill, Chip Roy called it a watered down version of what Trump had rejected before.

And so I think people -- Republicans are going to have a bunch of Republicans opposing it and Democrats who were shut out of the process and were for the bill beforehand are now going to probably vote largely in unison against it, and Donald Trump doesn't have a lot of influence with them.

BLITZER: Who has more sway with these Republican members right now, David? Would it be Elon Musk or Donald Trump?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Oh, I think Donald Trump has more sway with these members, but I think Elon Musk has a large megaphone, and he used it to point it to these members and was able to activate a lot of people flooding with phone calls to offices. He pointed and shouted through a large megaphone that clearly had impact here. But who has influence with these members? That is Donald Trump. I think there's no doubt about it.

I think what you see happening here, you know, Donald Trump loves to talk about a mandate and a landslide, and there is no doubt Donald Trump had a decisive win in a close election that emerged with close margins in the House now going forward into the next Congress, but there are close margins in this one as well.

And I think what we're seeing on display here is a reminder of the tension that is going to exist, that even Donald Trump, at his most politically popular and enjoying a bit of a honeymoon right now, is still going to be intention with the need to have a government that functions, the basic things that need to occur, because his most stalwart supporters are just not for doing business the way it's been done. And so that tension of the need to govern with Donald Trump's popularity being emboldened, it doesn't -- just because you had a decisive victory doesn't make all the need of the government functioning to go away.

BLITZER: Interesting. You know, Maggie Haberman is with us as well. How much does it get under Trump's skin right now that Elon Musk has so much influence in what's going on in Washington?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It doesn't right now. Might it once Trump comes to Washington on January 20th? Perhaps. If people keep -- you know, all day I have heard Democrats, you know, including on this network, on other networks, describing Trump as Vice President Trump or describing Musk as President Musk. There's obviously some of that is done to get under Trump's skin. Whether it actually starts to at a certain point, usually, that's how these things end with Trump.

But Musk comes with a different set of attributes than other people have, namely, you know, gazillions of dollars that he has been willing to spend not just on Trump's behalf, but against people who are standing in Trump's way. And we have seen that you know, over and over and over again, particularly with the effort to try to get Pete Hegseth over the line as the secretary of defense. So, this one relationship has a longer shelf life than most, I would say.

BLITZER: I suspect you're right. You know, Gloria, the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, says he's a hell no. his words, hell no, when it comes to this bill, this latest bill that the Republicans are putting forward.

[18:10:07]

Democrats were also heard chanting, hell no, hell no, hell no, during their indoor --

BORGER: That give you an indication of how they'll vote? Yes.

BLITZER: Yes. That would seem to suggest to me they're not going to vote for it. And the Republicans need a two thirds majority, so they need Democrats to support this.

BORGER: Well, and Democrats were on board before, make no mistake about it.

BLITZER: When it was a bipartisan compromise.

BORGER: When it was a bipartisan bill. And they worked towards that and they were shut out of any negotiations. This came down from on high, from Johnson or Elon Musk or Donald Trump, and they were not a part of it. And some of the stuff that's been cut out of it are things that they have supported. And, you know, they find very little political reason, quite frankly. to support this bill. I mean, if there is a shutdown, for example, this will be because the president- elect threw a grenade into this. He will blame it on Joe Biden. He's called it Joe Biden's shutdown, if there's a shutdown. But I think the American people will see this was going to be passed until Donald Trump and Elon Musk said, no way, that voting for it would be a criminal act.

BLITZER: Speaking of the President Biden, he's the sitting president of the United States, but, really, we haven't seen or heard much from him over these past 24 hours, as this critical piece of legislation potentially could be rejected.

CHALIAN: Or these past five weeks, I mean, since the election. I mean, he really, in many ways, has just ceded the ground here in this transition period and has receded quite a bit. And he is still the president. I mean, this is a government that is looking to stay open under his watch. I know we saw, you know, Vice President Harris changed her plans to go to Los Angeles tonight and stay close in case there was a tie-breaking vote needed in the Senate. The White House press secretary has been putting out statements. The communication shop has put out sort of memos of what Biden wants to run through the tape on and do this. But we have not -- the country has not heard from Joe Biden directly, the sitting president United States, on these matters.

I would say the bipartisan deal, I think there are Democrats who would have accepted this very new revised slimmed down deal if that was the deal a few weeks ago, even with the debt ceiling increase. I think it's the manner in which the Republicans put the country and the Congress in the position it's in right now that is causing even firmer opposition from Democrats.

BLITZER: Just for any piece of legislation to become the law, the sitting president of the United States would have to sign it, and we're really -- he's sort of invisible, we're not hearing anything from him.

HABERMAN: Yes, it's -- as David said, that has been the case literally for weeks now. I mean, you would -- there is the one president at a time thing, but usually that requires the actual sitting president to be more visible and to be part of the discussion. Yes, he took a foreign trip. Yes, he has done certain things. But in general, he really has not been making himself, or some, you know, last stages of an agenda felt.

Now, could you make an argument that if you are Joe Biden and you realize that this is a mess that essentially was created by Donald Trump, you are not going to put yourself in front of that and take ownership? Yes. But then that becomes that everything is only reduced to being a political football as opposed to being about voters, and that is also a bipartisan problem.

BORGER: No. I think Republicans realize that shutting down the government would be a bad thing to do.

HABERMAN: That's why they don't want it.

BORGER: Right. They don't want the government to shut down.

HABERMAN: But Elon Musk doesn't seem to mind that because Elon Musk believes that there is an enormous amount of bloat in the federal government, which it's hard to argue with, objectively. It's just a question of how you go about it.

BORGER: He says Congress shouldn't do anything until January 20th.

HABERMAN: Right. Well, that would show you a way to find out what that would look like. This might not result the way people think.

BORGER: How would you do an inauguration without a government?

BLITZER: As far as I know, Elon Musk hasn't been elected to anything. He's a billionaire, maybe the richest guy in the world, but he still hasn't been elected to anything in the House, the Senate or the presidency for that matter.

Everyone stick around. We're going to have much more on the breaking news. We're standing by to hear from the House speaker, Mike Johnson. He'll be coming to that microphone very soon. We'll hear what he has to say. Lots at stake right now for the American people. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: Back to the breaking news here in Washington, where the House of Representatives is expected to vote very, very soon, this hour, on a new Trump-backed bill to avoid a government shutdown. And CNN is learning that Republicans expect that vote on their new bill, they're expecting that vote to fail.

Any moment now, we're also expected to hear directly from the House speaker, Mike Johnson. We'll bring that to you live once he comes up to the microphone. You'll see it there.

Our political experts, in the meantime, are joining us. Shermichael Singleton. I'll start with you. You're a Republican strategist and a political commentator. How much disarray in the Republican Party is there right now given the fact that Trump himself a few hours ago endorsed this latest version of this bill?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And, Wolf. If I had a nickel every time someone asked that question, I'd be a rich guy. I think we're all sort of used to that at this point in time.

I think the expectation for a lot of the base voters in the Republican Party, particularly the ardent Trump supporters, they continue to beg this question. Well, why do Republicans continue to spend a lot of money? We're supposed to be the, quote/unquote, conservative -- fiscally conservative party. We did a lot of that during the first Trump term. I did not agree with that. And then the second question becomes from the average person, they say, well, if I have to balance my budget every single month at home, why shouldn't the federal government do the same? Why are we also seeing the federal government saying, well, wait a minute, we're going to increase our salary 20- plus percent while the average American person is struggling?

So, it may appear that the party is in disarray, but I think the party has to adhere to the concerns of the average American person, particularly their Republican voters at home.

BLITZER: Ameshia Cross, you're a Democratic strategist right now. What's your analysis of this current situation, because the threat of the government shutdown is very, very real?

AMESHIA CROSS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It is. And I think that we've unfortunately been here multiple times before, probably way too often.

[18:20:02]

At this point, the Republicans and Donald Trump and more so I think Elon Musk don't want to give any wins to the left. They don't want to give any wins or give mes when it comes to healthcare, when it comes to ensuring that, you know, environmental protections are there. They are fighting that tooth and nail. And they're also leaning in on things that aren't necessarily in the package at all. What we've seen from Elon Musk is the majority of the stuff that he is on X talking about aren't even things that actually exist there, but it's getting a lot of resonating power even though he's spreading lies.

BLITZER: You know, Gloria, Democrats are telling our colleagues up on Capitol Hill that their trust with the speaker, Mike Johnson, has now gone away, given what has happened over the past 24 hours. There was a deal, a compromised deal, bipartisan deal, Democrats and Republicans working together to pass legislation that would keep the government open, and he moved away from that after Elon Musk and then Donald Trump rejected it.

BORGER: Right. And, look, can you blame them? I mean, they cut a deal with Mike Johnson, and Mike Johnson apparently sold it. He spent a lot of time attached at the hip to Donald Trump and Elon Musk and everyone else, Army-Navy game, Mar-a-Lago, whatever, and then the rug got pulled out from under him by Donald Trump. So, there may be a little bit of sympathy for Mike Johnson because how can he govern when he's got a president-elect who does that to him and a recalcitrant caucus who many of whom are saying they don't want to accept anything, and that any amount of money you spend in a continuing resolution is too much?

And so I think the Democrats have reason to say who are we negotiating with? Are we negotiating with Mike Johnson, because that's what we did, or are we negotiating with Donald Trump or Elon Musk?

CHALIAN: But the big question for Mike Johnson, of course, is not how much respect he still has with Democrats. It is that he is two weeks and a day away from a speaker's vote and he is going to have a narrower House Republican majority than he currently has. There are going to be vacancies because people have left to go serve in the Trump administration. And depending on how the math is and how many people are on the floor to vote two weeks from tomorrow, and the speaker, he's going to have to make sure he has a hundred percent unanimous support in his conference.

I would say today, that is not the case. I mean, we've already heard from one member who says they're not going to support him at this point for speaker. Nobody is saying seriously that a speakership is in real jeopardy, but I think you have to be on watch for that.

SINGLETON: And, Wolf, if I could add to that, it's not just the members, it's also those outside conservative groups, David, that are going to put a lot of pressure on Republicans saying we don't want Mike Johnson, because he's not adhering, to your point, Gloria, what the president-elect is asking for.

CROSS: Well, the thing is they don't have the numbers. So, the president-elect wants to push things through that. Quite frankly, the margins are so narrow and they're only about to get more narrow once he takes office. The things that they want are things that they're not going to be able to get Democrats to sign off on. So, at the end of the day, Mike Johnson does know how to count, like Nancy Pelosi. There's absolutely no way that a lot of the packages they want to see, the mandate he thinks he has, has not played out in terms of the people who are actually make up House members.

BLITZER: You know, Shermichael, I don't know if you've heard this, but during the course of the days, a bunch of Republicans are now coming out publicly and saying they would like to see the speaker, Mike Johnson, replaced as speaker with Elon Musk.

SINGLETON: I mean, look, I like Elon Musk, but I think Elon Musk is more interested in running his several multibillion dollar companies. I think Republicans --

CROSS: And the contracts that come from them.

SINGLETON: Oh, okay. That's fair. I mean, he's a business guy. I'm not going to hate on him for that, Ameshia. But I will say, Wolf, I think Republicans have to figure out a way to govern with a two or three-seat majority, which is what David and Gloria were sort of alluding to. The American people gave a mandate to Donald Trump. And in many ways, a lot of Republicans were able to cross the finish line as a result of Trump's success.

And so the question for some of those sort of soft Trump voters who said I'm going to vote Republican for the first time in my life, am I actually seeing something tangible that crystallizes that support for the next two years? If not, then Democrats are going to have the opportunity to articulate their message and point to potential failures of Republicans as they return that power back to us. We've got to be careful here.

BORGER: This foreshadows what's going to happen for the next couple of years, the kind of chaos with Donald Trump throwing a grenade into this process with a narrow margin.

Now, it now takes nine seats, nine people to -- for a motion to vacate. So, he has a little bit of -- Johnson has a little bit of padding there. But he's always going to be on life support as long as the margins are this close.

BLITZER: Everybody stand by. We're about to hear very, very soon from the House speaker, Mike Johnson. We'll take that live once it begins.

Much more on all the breaking news, as I keep saying, the stakes for the American people with this potential vote that's coming up tonight could be enormous.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: We're following the breaking news here in the nation's capital, and the House speaker, Mike Johnson, is expected to address the news media momentarily, just ahead of a key, very important vote to try to avert a federal government shutdown. That vote is expected to fail, we're told.

There's other breaking news that we're following right now as well. I want to check in on some of the other important news as we await the dramatic developments up on Capitol Hill. We're following Luigi Mangione, who is now back in New York City to face state and now federal charges for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Our Senior Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An extraordinary scene. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione shackled, wearing an orange jumpsuit, his first time back in New York City since police say he fled after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was horrifically gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4th. Mangione evading police for days before eventually being arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania. Today, surrounded by NYPD detectives and FBI agents wearing bulletproof vests and carrying long guns, even New York City Mayor Eric Adams was there addressing the support Mangione has received.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): We don't use a gun. And anyone that celebrates that, it is vile and it is sending the wrong message. And you're celebrating using violence to solve an issue.

PROKUPECZ: The whirlwind day beginning in Pennsylvania with Mangione leaving prison for the Blair County Courthouse, where he waived extradition.

PETE WEEKS, BLAIR COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE: We relinquished him to the custody of the New York City Police Department.

PROKUPECZ: He was placed in a black SUV and immediately taken to the airport and was flown by an NYPD plane to Long Island. From there, he was put on an NYPD chopper to downtown Manhattan.

His attorneys believed Mangione would be appearing for state charges, but were redirected to a federal courthouse, where Mangione faces charges of murder through use of a firearm, stalking, and a firearms offense.

His attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifolo, saying in court that this was a, quote, highly unusual situation that she'd never seen in 30 years of practicing law. She also said she had never seen a situation play out like this and asked for clarification on whether federal and state prosecutors are conducting two separate investigations.

The federal complaint revealing new details about what Mangione allegedly wrote in a notebook found on him when he was arrested. An entry marked August 15th said, quote, the details are finally coming together and the target is insurance because it checks every box. Another entry in October, quote, describes an intent to, quote, whack the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its major investor conference.

Mangione also facing 11 state counts in New York, including first and second-degree murder, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg saying both cases will proceed.

ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Speaking generally we've had a state prosecutions and federal prosecutions proceed as parallel matters. And we're in conversations with our law enforcement counterparts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PROKUPECZ (on camera): And, Wolf, tonight, Luigi Mangione is spending his time at a Brooklyn federal jail as he awaits trial. It's expected that he's going to be indicted and then we could see him back here in a Manhattan courtroom in January. As for the state case, it's unclear when we will see Mangione face a judge in that case, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Shimon Prokupecz in New York for us, Shimon, thank you very, very much.

All right, we're standing by to hear from the speaker of the House on the breaking news here in Washington on whether or not there will be a federal government shutdown. We'll have special coverage of that right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): -- America to ensure that we have that diversity in the marketplace and our food supply is directly related to national security. So, it's a very important thing for both parties to do to provide that aid.

We also have a clean extension of the farm bill, a clean extension of health extenders that are necessary and a couple of other details. Everything that I just told you was negotiated in a bipartisan fashion. Both parties agreed to these terms and that's what's on the floor right now. The only change in this legislation is that we are going to push the debt limit to January 30th of 2027. We will push it beyond that or to that time point. And that will allow us to do the important work of governing in the new Congress.

Why does that matter? Because we are committed to cutting hundreds of billions of dollars of wasteful spending out of the federal budget. That's what we're going to do, the DOGE effort with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the commitments that President Trump made on the campaign trail. We'll come to fruition when we get about that very important work for the American people.

The government is too big, it does too many things, and it does very few things well. We're going to cut and limit the size and scope of the government and get it under control for the American people. We have a mandate to do so. President Trump received 77 million votes in the election. House Republicans, 74.7 million votes, the most in history. We know what we are to do. We're determined to do that.

And even though this vote would push the debt limit to 2027, it in, no way, reflects any lack of enthusiasm on our part to get about those serious cuts for the American people. We have to have fiscal responsibility as a core principle of our party.

So, that's what the House Republicans are committed to, every single one of them. We will get together and do that work, and it begins in early January. I hope that this vote passes tonight. We will send it to the Senate. We will extend funding, and we'll come back, and we will have the America First agenda come in roaring in January for the American people. Thank you so much.

BLITZER: All right. That was the House speaker, Mike Johnson, up on Capitol Hill. As you heard, he made a statement, didn't take questions from reporters.

The House, by the way, right now has started voting on a new Trump- backed spending bill and Republicans tell CNN they actually expect the vote to fail.

I want to go back to our Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. He's up on Capitol Hill. What else are you hearing, Manu? What's the latest?

RAJU: Yes. This is interesting because we actually have not heard much from Speaker Johnson over the last several days. He's been holed up in the speaker's suite trying to cut this deal, trying to appease Donald Trump's demands and giving his pitch there about why he thinks the bill should be enacted.

[18:40:03]

There were more changes than he made, it seemed. They took a bunch of provisions out of the bill. Some Democrats were upset about some of the research funding that was removed from it.

He downplayed the very significant addition to this bill, which would be to suspend the national debt limit until January 2027. Remember, that is such a huge fight. Typically, every time this comes up, this leads to a major battle in Washington. Republicans typically demand spending cuts to offset any increase of the national debt limit. And Democrats typically are okay without spending cuts because they say that we just need to pay for all the spending that we already did and avoid a national debt default.

But this time, things are different. Donald Trump does not want to deal with the debt limit when he first comes into office, which is why he inserted this late demand late in the process, and says he wants to get this taken care off his plate, which means suspending the national debt limit under this proposal until January 2027.

But that is a bridge too far for many conservative Republicans who would say they simply cannot support this plan. And Democrats have changed course on this as well. They say if they were to authorize that, then it would green light Donald Trump's tax plan, which could significantly drive up the federal debt. And they say they wouldn't want to make it easier for him to pass it. They want to use that as leverage in the next Congress, Wolf, which explains to you the pickle that Mike Johnson is in, as we face a government shutdown deadline by tomorrow night.

This bill on the floor right now expected to fail. What's the next plan, wolf, what is plan C? We don't know yet. It's unclear if the speaker does either.

BLITZER: Well, it looks like it's going to fail right now if you take a look at the vote count, they need a two thirds majority to pass this initial piece of legislation right now. A motion to suspend the rules and pass it, right now, there's only 103 in favor of this bill. A 167 already opposed. A 157 have not yet voted. So, there's still some time. But it looks, clearly, Manu, correct me if I'm wrong, based on the vote count so far, this two thirds majority is not going to happen.

RAJU: Yes, it's not going to happen, Wolf. And everyone pretty much acknowledges that up here on the Hill. The magic number, if all members are present in voting, is actually 290. That is what they need to actually pass this. They're going to fall well short of this. Remember Republicans hold 219 votes in the House and we expect a sizeable amount of Republicans are going to vote against it. It's unclear exactly how many and we expect most Democrats to vote against it.

So, they're going to get nowhere close to the 290-vote threshold. And there are reasons why this has done it at two thirds threshold. They could also pass it by a simple majority, but that means getting their whole party in line to do that. And the party is simply not in line on this issue, Wolf.

So, this is going to go down, and then the question is, what's next. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, very interesting. Manu, stand by, we're going to get back to you.

Right now, I want to bring in Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York. I understand, Congressman, you just voted. Tell us how you voted.

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): I voted in favor of the C.R., Wolf, because we need to keep the government funded and open. I think the fact that some of my colleagues on the left are objecting to this bill is a result of the fact that some of their priorities got stripped out of the bill and it is a clean C.R. as opposed to being littered with additional pork projects.

In addition, let's talk about the debt ceiling for a second. The idea that people are upset that we're actually addressing something early as opposed to on a deadline is comical. Everybody's always freaking out about the fact, like this, that we're running up against a deadline. So, if something is addressed up front, why is that a problem? Number one.

Number two, as Manu just said, Democrats are really upset about it because they view it as one of their only chances at leverage in negotiations in the next Congress. That's why they don't want to include the debt ceiling limit. This is about paying previous debts incurred. If we want to rein in our debt, our $36 trillion in debt and our deficit, that is done through the appropriations process.

The reason we're even in this situation, Wolf, is because Senate Democrats didn't pass a single solitary appropriations bill this entire year, not one. And the fact is we have to do a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.

A lot of this is inside baseball. At the end of the day, the American people are not going to understand if government shuts down because Democrats are upset that they don't have leverage in a negotiation.

The American people expect us to do our job, and in this instance, the job is to pass a clean C.R., to continue to fund the government, provide disaster relief for communities that were impacted by storms and to provide support for our farmers who have been struggling in the aftermath of COVID. The fact is our farmers are critical to putting food on the table of Americans.

[18:45:03]

So --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: So, Congressman --

LAWLER: -- this is a critical bill that needs to get across the finish line. And I get people get upset when they don't get their way. But the idea you're going to vote no to shut the government down, frankly, is idiotic, as we approach Christmas and Hanukkah.

BLITZER: But, Congressman, as you well know, there was a bipartisan agreement that was achieved that the speaker worked out with Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House. There was a bipartisan agreement that until Elon Musk and Donald Trump yesterday came out against it, that would have passed for sure, and there would not have been a government shutdown.

Why did -- why did they decide to try to --

LAWLER: Wolf, respectfully --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Yeah. Go ahead.

LAWLER: Respectfully, you don't know that it would have passed for sure because it never came to the floor. There were --

BLITZER: There was bipartisan support.

LAWLER: There were a lot of people that were upset about it and not in favor of it. With all that being said, the fact is, in 31 days, Donald Trump is going to be president of the United States, and he has every right to weigh in on this agreement.

By the way, nobody's asking where Joe Biden is or what Joe Biden thinks. And he's the sitting president of the United States. Doesn't that say something right now?

Donald Trump has a right to have his opinion heard on this matter. He wanted the debt ceiling increased as part of a continuing resolution.

I'll reiterate what Manu just said to you, Wolf. The reason Democrats are upset about this bill is not the CR, not the disaster relief, not the farm aid. The reason they're upset about this bill is because they want to use the debt ceiling increase as leverage down the road. That's what they're upset about.

And I'm sorry Americans are not going to understand that a few days before Christmas and Hanukkah.

(CROSSTALK) BLITZER: Congressman, let me just --

LAWLER: Shut the government down, because you don't --

BLITZER: Let just point out, Congressman --

LAWLER: -- get to use this as leverage.

BLITZER: As of right now, if you take a look at the roll call, 31 of your fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives are voting against this current bill right now. So how can you say this is the Democrats fault when you're in the majority?

LAWLER: Wolf, I love you, Wolf, but you got to stop just trying to defend the Democrats here. The fact is that we have a number of Republicans that have never voted for a continuing resolution, have never voted to lift the debt ceiling. This bill requires two thirds of the House, not an absolute majority. It requires two thirds.

So the fact that you have Democrats who normally would vote for this, refusing to do so, not because they disagree with the clean CR, not because they disagree with disaster relief, not because they disagree with aid to our farmers. No, they're doing so because they're upset that the debt ceiling increase is being taken off the table as leverage for them in future negotiations. That's what they're upset about.

And you know what, Wolf? That's why Washington is broken. Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts, came out today and said she agrees with President Trump that debt ceiling increase should stop being used as a political weapon. And I agree with that. This is not helpful to anyone. The fact is, we are literally 24 hours plus away from a shutdown. Democrats are now voting against keeping the government funded.

They can say it had to do with the bipartisan agreement being broken. They can say that they're upset about, you know, Elon Musk weighing in. The fact is a bill is on the floor right now to keep the government funded to provide disaster relief to Americans. And they are voting no, not because they disagree with that, but because they're upset that their leverage in a future negotiation may be taken away.

BLITZER: Do you think the speaker, Congressman --

LAWLER: You know what, Wolf? Don't blame it. Don't blame it on the 31 Republicans blaming it on the 31. You should be saying a Democrat.

BLITZER: If you take a look right now, 193 Democrats have voted no. 33 Republicans have voted no.

LAWLER: And two Democrats are voting.

BLITZER: Here's the question. There was a deal, a bipartisan deal that was worked out, that the speaker worked out with the Democratic leader. Do you think the speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, is in trouble right now? Can he survive this mess?

LAWLER: Look, I support the speaker. He's got a very difficult task. We have a very tight majority. And the fact is right now, today, we have a divided government. Democrats control the Senate.

Joe Biden is still the president of the United States, even though it doesn't seem like it. The fact is that obviously, you're going to have a bipartisan agreement at some point. But I think here the fact that Democrats are voting against a clean CR -- well, we're not adding new things. Were saying keep the government funded through March when we get -- can work on the appropriations process.

So right now, every American should be saying, wait a minute, you're voting no because it doesn't have additional items in it other than disaster and farm aid?

[18:50:00]

And I think most Americans would look at that and say, that's ridiculous. The fact is, the only reason Democrats are voting no right now is because they are losing leverage on the debt ceiling negotiation in the future. And I will just point out, Democrats aren't just content with pay-fors in the debt ceiling negotiations.

In previous debt ceiling negotiations with President Trump, they demanded an increase in spending. So it is not so simple as to just say Republicans want cuts, Democrats want pay-fors. That's not the way it is.

BLITZER: This current bill is about to fail. You need a two thirds majority, and there's no way that's going to happen right now.

Take a look at the roll call as it exists.

Congressman Mike Lawler, always good to have you here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thank you very much.

LAWLER: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're going to have much more on all the breaking news right after a short break.

Hey, Congressman, thanks for doing this.

LAWLER: Hey, Wolf. Thank you. Appreciate it.

BLITZER: All right.

LAWLER: All right. Bye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:41]

BLITZER: Let's get back to the major breaking news. A Trump backed bill to avert a federal government shutdown now appears headed for defeat in the House of Representatives.

Our political experts are joining me once again.

And, David Chalian, what's your analysis right now? Because the deadline is midnight tomorrow night to pass some legislation.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Yeah, I mean, we're up against it now, and it is the holiday season. This is -- this is not going to be welcome news for most Americans. There's no doubt about that.

And you'll begin to ask if they can't find a way out of this, Wolf, if there's not a plan C, because this is plan B that's going down right now, you got to think, well, how long will this shutdown last? Does it last all the way, as Elon Musk suggested to January 20th, next, next year until Donald Trump is inaugurated.

I would note, though, Speaker Johnson gave us no clues about what the next plan is when he was addressing cameras, he was on his way to the floor in full knowledge that this was going to fail. Still making the case for it, but understanding that this was not going to pass, we didn't understand from him what the next plan is.

BLITZER: Do we have any idea what the next plan is between now and midnight tomorrow night to avert a government shutdown?

CHALIAN: I mean, it will be interesting to see if they try to come to the table, not injecting the debt limit into this, which seems to be the thing that is setting Democrats off. And you just heard from Mike Lawler there saying Democrats are trying to exert some political leverage here.

So we'll see if he comes back without that as some way to negotiate to keep the government open. But my God, that I think will get a lot of backlash from Republicans.

BLITZER: And Shermichael, right now, as you can see, 174 votes in favor of this current bill, but 234 against. So it's clearly going to fail.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, including 37 Republicans. So I think the speaker has to figure out a way to whip those votes.

BLITZER: Thirty-seven Republicans who are voting against this.

SINGLETON: Yeah, voting with the Democrats or Trump. And so I guess the problem for Speaker Johnson right now is when you got to figure out a way to approve some type of funding for disaster relief, a lot of Americans are still devastated by the hurricanes. Farmers are still devastated. We got to figure that out.

But even if you try to your point, David, lets say you try to do a clean CR, do you get every single Republicans vote to pass that with the majority? I don't think you can. So if this thing shuts down tomorrow, this could very well go into January. BLITZER: All right. Everybody stand by for a moment. I want to have a

special moment right now to say thank you, thank you, thank you to our Gloria Borger, 17 years here at CNN.

This is going to be your last week here at CNN. You're getting ready to -- to move on. And we want to wish you, of course, only, only the very best. You and I go way back.

In fact, your first appearance on CNN was right here in THE SITUATION ROOM with me. It was on September 13th, 2007, 17 years ago, and we had this exchange. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We're only about 19 minutes away from the president's address to the nation on his new plans for the war in Iraq.

Joining us now, the newest member of the best political team on television, our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger.

Welcome, Gloria, to CNN.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: They really did not want the president to give an address to the nation this evening. A lot of Republicans I spoke with today, both in the presidential campaigns and on Capitol Hill, said, look, we thought General Petraeus did very well. He has more credibility than the president does when it comes to managing the war in Iraq. Why didn't the president leave it alone?

And they said he's doing this because this is his moment. He wants to take credit for drawing down the troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And, Gloria, I think I speak for all of our viewers here in the United States and indeed around the world when I say thank you, thank you, thank you.

BORGER: Well, it's been a pure joy. It's been a great 17 years. I work with the best people in the business, the best journalists in the business. And in looking at that clip, I want to remind our viewers that was when we stood in the SIT ROOM, because we used to stand around a table, and you used to stand for hours and hours doing that.

BLITZER: Right, good memory.

BORGER: So, yeah. It's been -- it's been a great pleasure. I'm going to really miss the place, but I'm going to be CNN's biggest fan, and I'll be rooting for everyone from the sidelines.

BLITZER: And, David, I think you and I can both agree and all of our friends here at CNN can agree that we don't only work together professionally, but we've also become very close friends with Gloria.

CHALIAN: We're going to miss you terribly. Not only is your reporting and your analysis unparalleled, but your humanity and your kindness and your friendship and your mentorship to everyone is something that we all cherish here, and it is going to be greatly missed.

BORGER: Thank you. And I'm going to miss you all too. But you're not going to disappear from my life.

BLITZER: We will stay in close touch with you to be sure.

All right, one final note before I say goodbye. The House of Representatives has just voted on the Trump backed bill to try to avert a federal government shutdown, but the bill has now officially failed.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks very much for watching.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.