"One day after Trump derailed a bipartisan government funding bill - with a big assist from the world's richest man, Elon Musk - he issued a new demand, for a stripped-down government funding bill that would also raise the limit on how much new debt the federal government can issue to fund its spending.
It was a big ask for many congressional conservatives who have long demanded that any debt increase at least be accompanied by cuts to what they view as out-of-control government spending. And Democrats, and more than a few Republicans, rejected it.
Trump's demand was also a tacit admission that his legislative agenda, heavy on tax cuts and new military spending, was unlikely to deliver the kind of reduction to America's enormous federal deficit that many on the right have been hoping for.
On Thursday night, this slimmed-down bill, along with a two-year suspension of the debt limit, came up for a vote in the House. Thirty-eight Republicans joined nearly every Democrat in voting it down.
This amounted to a stunning rebuke of the president-elect, who had enthusiastically endorsed the legislation and threatened to unseat any Republicans who opposed it."
It was a big ask for many congressional conservatives who have long demanded that any debt increase at least be accompanied by cuts to what they view as out-of-control government spending. And Democrats, and more than a few Republicans, rejected it.
Trump's demand was also a tacit admission that his legislative agenda, heavy on tax cuts and new military spending, was unlikely to deliver the kind of reduction to America's enormous federal deficit that many on the right have been hoping for.
On Thursday night, this slimmed-down bill, along with a two-year suspension of the debt limit, came up for a vote in the House. Thirty-eight Republicans joined nearly every Democrat in voting it down.
This amounted to a stunning rebuke of the president-elect, who had enthusiastically endorsed the legislation and threatened to unseat any Republicans who opposed it."
Trump's shutdown gamble exposes limits of his power
Trump showed he can kill legislation, but he failed to rally Republicans behind his alternative plan.
www.bbc.co.uk