Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Republicans should stand firm in negotiations with Democrats over government funding agreements because Americans want change in Washington.
“I think everyone misjudged what President Trump won when he introduced this jokey 1,500-page bill,” Gingrich said Friday on “The Faulkner Focus.” spoke.
“That was not a standing resolution,” he said of the Congressional bill unveiled Wednesday and aimed at averting a partial government shutdown.
“This was actually a brand new omnibus spending bill, and as usual, it was a complete political violation,” Gingrich continued. “'Don't worry about what the candidates say before the election. After the election, the candidates will sell you short.' Well, Trump didn't sell them, and now we're making America great again.” We are facing the first big reality.”
Trump-backed spending bill aimed at averting government shutdown fails in House of Representatives
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized Congressional leaders' 1,500-page stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded, calling it a “joke.” (Reagan Presidential Library)
Congressional leaders released a spending bill Wednesday containing 1,500 pages worth of policy and funding riders to extend the government's funding deadline.
The continuing resolution (CR) was strongly opposed by Trump and DOGE members Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who called for a streamlined version of the bill instead.
But a second spending bill sponsored by President Trump also failed to pass the House on Thursday, with 38 Republicans and all but two Democrats voting to reject the bill.
The deadline to avoid closure is late Friday.
Newt Gingrich says Trump is 'de facto' president
A spending bill supported by President Trump died in Congress on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon; iStock)
This came after two days of chaos in Parliament, with MPs fighting over the future direction of government spending. The national debt has soared to more than $36 trillion, and the national deficit is more than $1.8 trillion.
Gingrich said a Congress “full of people who love pork and deficit spending” is now “in conflict with the person the American people elected to change things.”
The Republican advised that Trump would be better off shutting down the government so he could show that he does not intend to “sell out” to the American people with a spending bill that would further expand the federal government.
“So I want you, the Republican Party, to take a strong stand against very large-scale change, fight through it, and rest easy while the Washington news media, the Washington lobbyists, and the Washington bureaucrats are all going crazy.” “I highly recommend it. The rest of America will applaud you. We finally have a majority that actually intends to change that,” he added.
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Vice President-elect Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as lawmakers work on a stopgap spending bill to avert a federal government shutdown Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. State) leaves the Senate floor. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Republican negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to avoid a partial government shutdown, officials told FOX News Digital on Friday.
Two people familiar with the discussions told Fox News Digital that the deal includes a short-term extension of this year's federal funding levels, disaster relief funds and agricultural aid for farmers, but is divided into three separate parts. It is said that it is based on the bill.
That includes an agreement to tackle the debt limit next year as part of a major conservative policy overhaul planned by Republicans through a process called “reconciliation.”
Fox News' Aubrie Spady and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
