Government shutdown live updates: Johnson says GOP agrees on new spending bill

Elon Musk is getting involved in the government funding fight once again, questioning whether Speaker Mike Johnson’s latest deal is a “Republican or a Democrat bill” in a post on X.

Musk was responding to Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky who claimed that Johnson was trying to pass a lone funding plan, including assistance for farmers and disaster aid, after getting word from House Democrats that they would support it.

In the waning days of President Joe Biden‘s administration, the government’s highway safety agency is proposing voluntary safety guidelines for self-driving vehicles.

But a rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration putting the plan in place won’t be approved before the end of Biden’s term in January and likely will be left to whoever runs the agency under Republican Donald Trump.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump has named to co-lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” to cut costs and regulations, has floated the idea of him helping to develop safety standards for self-driving vehicles — even though the standards would affect Tesla’s automated driving systems.

Lord Peter Mandelson has made a career of comebacks – from spin doctor to returning to cabinet after quitting twice – and is back again as Britain’s ambassador to the US.

It marks the first political appointment to the UK’s top diplomatic post in Washington in decades.

Peter Mandelson started out as a Labour communications director in 1985 and was first elected as an MP in 1992. He served in the cabinets of Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Donald Trump – who returns to the White House in January, four years after being ousted – may relate to his comeback story.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas brushed off the threat of a primary challenge Friday.

“That’s just politics, just rough and tumble … my life isn’t built around whether I have an election certificate, my life is built around winning for the American people, winning for my constituents,” he said. “And I think we’ve done that here by saying we can deliver for the president, which means delivering for the American people, while also holding on to our commitment that we’re not going to let the debt ceiling without spending cuts.”

In his last floor remarks as leader of the Republican Senate conference, Sen. Mitch McConnell said, “Folks come to Washington to do one of two things: either to make a point or to make a difference … it’s usually not that hard to tell who’s doing which, especially in situations like the one we’re in right now.”

The White House has warned that a possible shutdown would affect the presidential transition process.

“Transition activities will be restricted,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday, according to Politico. “We’re doing everything to ensure a smooth transition, but the choice to allow a transition to move forward is in the hands of Republicans in Congress.”

The only transition activities that would remain unaffected would be those required to “prevent imminent threats to the safety of human life or the protection of property,” she added.

Rep. Jim Banks, who’s heading to the Senate in January, said, “It’s been a disappointing week, but I won’t be around in January to weigh in on House leadership, but I imagine a lot of Republicans … [are] looking for something different.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, blasted Republicans for conducting “legislative whiplash” as they scramble to find a solution to funding the government.

“So they think that they can engage in this process of legislative whiplash and then coercion at the last minute,” Raskin said. “And they think it’s very clever, but in reality, it ends up damaging them because the American people reject that as a way to govern, and it’s enormously wasteful and profligate to shut the government United States down.”