Congressional leadership unveiled legislation Wednesday to punt the government funding deadline down the road, but that bill was pronounced dead only hours after it was revealed.
It led to the intervention of Trump-allied conservatives like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, with Musk threatening to support a primary challenge to any Republican member of Congress who voted for the bill.
It even prompted President-elect Trump to say he is “totally against” the legislation and insist any spending deal raise the debt ceiling before he gets into office, saving his administration the headache of doing so.
The continuing resolution, or CR, was meant to kick the government funding deadline down the road by continuing spending at 2024 levels until March and buy more time for Congress to hash out a longer-term budget plan for fiscal year 2025. But it included 1,500 pages worth of policy and funding riders.
With a national debt of $36 trillion and a deficit of $1.8 trillion, conservatives are leery of CRs that don’t cut government spending to begin with, but they’ve argued only a “clean” CR without any riders attached could earn their vote. Others — Democrats and some Republicans — wanted policy and funding riders attached to get something done beyond the status quo.
Here’s a look at all the provisions that prompted Musk and Ramaswamy to step in and insist Republicans kill the CR:
Pay raises for lawmakers
A nearly 4% pay raise would line the pockets of lawmakers if the legislation were to pass: $6,600 extra per year on top of their $174,000 salary.
That salary hasn’t been increased since 2009, but Congress created a program in 2022 allowing members of Congress to expense their food and lodging in Washington, D.C., while conducting official business.
Some members have been pushing for a pay raise for years, arguing that if members aren’t paid more it means that only independently wealthy people will run for Congress. Others are worried about the optics of a pay raise with voters.
Still, others just don’t think lawmakers deserve it.
“The worst part of the CR was the pay raise for members. That money should be earned and right now it is just being taken,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., on X.
Exempting members from ObamaCare
The legislation also includes a provision stipulating that members of Congress do not have to participate in the health care system they wrote into law — the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.
It would allow members to opt out of the program and instead participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The lawmaker mandate was a contentious debate during the passage of ObamaCare in 2009 and 2010, and for years Republicans tried to overturn the health care bill entirely.
While the CR would exempt members from having to buy health care on the ObamaCare exchange, it would still require their staff to participate in it.
Disaster relief
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., whose job has come under renewed threat due to anger over the CR, has said he started with a “clean” CR plan but needed to add disaster relief for victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the southeastern part of the country.
Some $100 billion for disaster relief was included, but some conservatives argue it should be paid for by cutting funding in other areas.
Rebuilding Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge
The CR includes $8 billion for rebuilding the Baltimore area bridge, which collapsed earlier this year. Some conservatives don’t believe the federal government should be on the hook entirely for the bridge.
“Guess what, folks? Even though the Francis Scott Key Bridge is privately owned, insured, and collects tolls, you still have the honor of footing 100% of the bill to have it repaired. Oh, and it will continue to collect tolls once it’s fixed,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., wrote on X.
Year-round higher levels of ethanol sales
The plan would allow year-round sales of gasoline with ethanol up to 15%, a major win for the corn and ethanol lobbies. Currently, sales of E15 are blocked from June through September due to the high level of emissions it produces.
Opposition to the E15 mandate is seemingly a more regional debate than ideological — Southern Republicans from oil-producing states want to protect pure gasoline. Agricultural states want to protect farmers and their subsidies.
Reauthorization of State Department agency Republicans accuse of speech suppression
A State Department agency that Republicans accuse of adding Americans and news outlets to a blacklist for things like speculating the COVID-19 virus was a Chinese-engineered bioweapon would get a reauthorization under the bill.
Musk previously described the Global Engagement Center (GEC) as being the “worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation.”
“They are a threat to our democracy,” Musk wrote in a subsequent post.
Although the bill doesn’t specify its budget allocation, a previous Inspector General report showed the agency’s FY 2020 budget totaled $74.26 million, of which $60 million was appropriated by Congress.
Other riders and handouts
The legislation reauthorizes the farm bill for a year, offering $21 billion in disaster relief to farmers and another $10 billion in economic aid. Most conservatives say they aren’t necessarily against this, but think it should get a standalone vote and not be attached to the CR.
Other seemingly unrelated riders are sprinkled throughout, such as a bill to establish data collection and reporting requirements concerning composting and recycling programs, and a bill related to transparency of hotel fees.
