Jeffries: GOP led by wealthy 'puppeteers'

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) slammed GOP leaders Thursday evening after the Republicans' Trump-backed plan to fund the federal government and raise the debt ceiling was trounced on the House floor.

Jeffries accused Republicans of caving to the demands of Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump loyalist, whose opposition to a bipartisan spending agreement helped tank that deal and left Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) scrambling for an alternative on Thursday.

That second proposal was shot down in a lopsided vote of 174 to 235, with one lawmaker voting present — a long ways from the two-thirds majority (273 votes) required to pass the measure under the fast-track procedure Republicans attempted.

"The Musk-Johnson government shutdown bill has been soundly defeated," Jeffries posted on Bluesky, an alternative platform to Musk's X.

"MAGA extremists in the House GOP are not serious about helping working class Americans," he continued. "They are simply doing the bidding of their wealthy donors and puppeteers.

"Unacceptable."

It's unclear what happens next. The overwhelming defeat of Johnson's partisan bill means it has no chance of passing the lower chamber even if it goes through regular order, which would require only a simple majority to pass.

If Congress fails to act, large parts of the federal government will shutter on Saturday at 12:01 a.m.