There’s a power struggle going on in the U.S. House as dozens of Republicans are defying President-elect Donald Trump’s support of a funding deal that would keep the federal government open past Friday.
UPDATE, 12/21: After the U.S. House late Friday passed a stopgap funding measure, the Senate approved it early Saturday. President Joe Biden signed it later Saturday, averting a government shutdown.
The struggle is the first real test of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party, The New York Times is reporting. Thirty-eight Republican lawmakers on Thursday resisted Trump’s command to support the spending and debt deal, showing that at least some of his followers are willing to buck his leadership in the right circumstances.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is now attempting to find a spending plan that will satisfy both Republicans and Democrats, but he has less than a day to do it. Trump early Friday morning renewed his demand that Congress suspend the debt ceiling after Congress failed to pass the spending bill Thursday night.
According to media reports, Trump’s demand breaks Republican tradition, as the party has for years used the debt ceiling as a tool to pressure Democrats into spending cuts. The chaotic bustle has left the U.S. House scrambling, raising further questions about how Republicans on Capitol Hill will govern once Trump takes office.
In the new issue of the Charleston City Paper:
CP OPINION: Good leadership can be a heartfelt apology. “Try to remember the last time that a politician realized an idea wasn’t right and apologized for pushing it. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s a marvel. And what it shows is good leadership.”
CP NEWS: Seven Lowcountry antidotes to holiday hell. We all know that things can get tense in close quarters anytime, but at the holidays the people you can love almost seem to love you to death amidst the twinkling lights, scent of pine and mounds of sugar in every kind of dessert.
CP NEWS: Here are bills that will fuel busy 2025 legislative session. South Carolina legislators prefiled hundreds of bills every year ahead of the January session. Here’s a look at some of the measures that will keep them busy in 2025.
CP NEWS: Charleston DUI arrests, enforcement increase ahead of holidays. Drunken driving arrests are up in Charleston and North Charleston this year compared to last year, according to police spokesmen in both cities.
CP FOOD: Abbracci brings upscale Italian to North Mount Pleasant. Local restaurateurs Don and Joanne Migliori know a thing or two about the local restaurant community. They opened the popular North Mount Pleasant pizza joint Migliori’s Pizzeria in 2020.
CP ARTS: Artists Wenke, Rueter open West Ashley studio. Charleston-based visual artists Bri Wenke and Sam Rueter have collaborated many times over the last five years of their friendship – from putting on large-scale, immersive art installations to live-painting nude models at the Grand Bohemian Hotel.
In other headlines:
Busy Mount Pleasant intersection draws concern. Multiple car accidents have occurred throughout the year near the busy Oakland Market shopping center off U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant. Now, there are concerns about the dangers of the intersection and what can be done to improve safety in the area.
Grammy nominated singer gives Charleston coffee shop top rating. Singer and songwriter Noah Khan may have two Grammy nominations under his belt, but it is his “five-star” rating of a Charleston coffee shop that has locals buzzing.
Students at Charleston elementary school receive new bikes for Christmas. Some elementary school students in Charleston County got an early Christmas present Thursday morning.
Bleak conditions persist after Helene crippled North Carolina. Nearly three months after Helene, survivors face bleak conditions in western North Carolina as the holidays rapidly approach.
S.C. among fastest-growing states in 2024 thanks to migration. Only three states in the nation saw their populations grow faster than South Carolina.
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