I Am Altering the Deal

Today’s notice: Posturing has real impacts. A government shutdown is, in fact, a big deal, say federal workers. Trump’s norm-shattering transition actually matters, says one of the people who wrote the transition law. And the political maneuvering around the NLRB could be an issue for a long time, says labor.

Back to the Drawing Board

Where does Mike Johnson go from here?

The “deal” that House Republicans cobbled together after their original spending deal crashed and burned has… also crashed and burned.

A government shutdown is less than 24 hours away, and it’s unclear if the failed vote will actually bring Johnson back to the negotiating table with Democrats. After the latest bill fell literally 100 votes short, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Thursday night that Republicans wouldn’t bring the legislation to the Rules Committee, an indication that GOP leaders know the bill is dead.

But it’s also unlikely that Johnson could just bring the old legislation back to the floor.

On Thursday, before the failed vote on the new spending measure, Donald Trump actually praised Johnson for the new bill, which would have funded the government for three months, provided $110 billion for disaster aid, reauthorized the current farm bill for a year and extended certain expiring health policies. At Trump’s insistence, the bill also would have frozen the debt limit for two years. It got 174 votes in a body of 430 lawmakers.

There isn’t a plan on what to do now. But one option is to just try the current, slimmed-down version of the CR without the debt ceiling provisions. During floor debate Thursday night, it became clear that the primary objection from Democrats (and the Republicans who voted no) was the two-year suspension of the debt limit.

“We’ll just have to see what the play is,” Rep. Kevin Hern, a GOP leadership ally, told NOTUS. “That’s why we’re doing the vote, so we can see where it comes out.”

Where it came out is that Republicans obviously need Democrats — something the failed vote may have demonstrated to Trump and Elon Musk.

But Democrats also seem somewhat open to negotiating, as long as they’re actually brought to the table this time. Democratic Rep. Ami Bera gave NOTUS a vague outline for a path forward on Thursday: The standoff probably ends with a “clean” CR that has disaster aid, farm bill provisions and “maybe a couple of other things.”

Read the story here.

A Quick Note on Shutdown Cynicism

Everyone knows the story at this point: The big elements of government don’t actually shut down in a shutdown — Americans can still go through TSA and receive a Social Security check, not to mention be arrested or called up for duty in a war zone. This may be why some in Washington have become increasingly ho-hum about it all.

Jacqueline Simon, policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees, has some words for those people.

“The people who do that work aren’t going to be getting their paycheck on payday,” she told NOTUS. “Nobody’s ho-hum.”

Before anyone does a #actually the workers always get back pay, Simon has a reality check for the cynical. The lowest-paid workers get hit hardest, she said. “The phones start ringing,” she said of moments like this. “People want to know what’s happening. People want to know, can the union front them some money?”

—Evan McMorris-Santoro

Front Page

• House Republicans Have a New Spending Plan. The Top House Democrat Says It’s ‘Laughable.’: Republicans thought they might put Democrats in a tough position on this vote. They didn’t.
• Democrats Quietly Signal Openness to a Narrower Spending Deal: “Democrats need to stay here to vote and shut the f*** up,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove told NOTUS. “Stop revealing the game plan.”
• Some Republicans Want Elon Musk to Literally Run the House: Elon for speaker? It’s “about the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard,” one lawmaker said.
• North Carolina Democrats Prepare for a Legal Battle: Republicans have stripped key authorities away from the governor and attorney general.

We’re Transitioning Away From Transition Norms

Donald Trump’s White House transition is very different from those in the past. It’s privately funded, which means it can skirt a bipartisan presidential transition ethics law requiring donor transparency, FBI background checks for appointees and strict recordkeeping. About that bipartisan law: It was signed by none other than former President Trump. NOTUS’ Claire Heddles reports on how his move to avoid the law he put on the books is landing with two original sponsors of the bill.

“By doing an end run around those rules that he had agreed to, Trump is signaling to the American people that he wants to run a government that works for billionaires but not anybody else,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Claire.

“I supported the law because you wanted to help a new president coming in transition to a new government,” Sen. Ron Johnson told her. “Every president can handle that however he wants to.”

Read the story.

The GOP May Give Unions the NLRBlues

It’s not entirely clear what approach the Trump administration will take toward organized labor. DOGE is co-led by a guy who loves firing people, but the nominee for labor secretary makes some in the pro-corporate wing of the GOP nervous. Now that Democrats have failed to secure Joe Biden’s last nominee to the NLRB, Trump will get two new picks for the five-member board (he can thank Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for that).

NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer talked to Democrats and their union allies in the wake of that failure (they’re nervous), and Republicans on what they want to see in a Trump NLRB (it’s probably not what the AFL-CIO would like to hear).

“I would like for that board to be more business-centric and be focused on worker rights, as opposed to just unions,” Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison said.

Read the story.

Not Us

We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.

• How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge by Annie Linskey, Rebecca Ballhaus, Emily Glazer and Siobhan Hughes for The Wall Street Journal
• Photos: Madison mourns after Abundant Life Christian School shooting by Julius Shieh for Wisconsin Watch
• List of holiday traditions from around the world, as shared by diplomats in D.C. by Molly McCluskey for Diplomatica

Some News at NOTUS

Kevin Grant, director of development at Allbritton Journalism Institute (the nonprofit engine that fuels NOTUS), explained why he’s optimistic about the future of independent media in a piece for Nieman Lab. He also previewed an exciting 2025 for the home team.

“We will launch a State Delegations Initiative in early 2025, partnering with local, state and regional outlets who seek to better hold their elected officials accountable,” Kevin writes.

Read his piece.

Be Social

Congress is smiling through the pain and talking about their lunch.

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