Int'l students urged to return to campuses before Trump's inauguration

Chuck Schumer is calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to return to a stopgap funding agreement he had negotiated with Democrats

- Associated Press

WASHINGTON: A day before a potential government shutdown, the House rejected President-elect Donald Trump's new plan on Thursday to fund operations and suspend the debt ceiling, as Democrats and dozens of Republicans refused to accommodate his sudden demands.

In a hastily convened Thursday evening vote punctuated by angry outbursts over the self-made crisis, the lawmakers failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for passage, but House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared determined to reassess before Friday's midnight deadline.

President Joe Biden has discussed the potential shutdown with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.

"There's still time," Jean-Pierre said, to avoid a partial government shutdown.

She said Republicans created the situation and are responsible for fixing it.

"Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this," Jean-Pierre said.

That could involve splitting up the previous efforts - government funding, disaster and agricultural aid into separate votes - with a debt ceiling vote potentially later.