Why Dozens of GOP Lawmakers Defied Trump

President-elect Trump urged all Republicans to vote in favor of the Plan B government spending deal Thursday night—but 38 House Republicans defied his wishes and voted against the plan, leaving the country on the brink of a government shutdown. The rebel lawmakers weren't moderate Republicans who have angered Trump before, but "conservatives who would normally align themselves with Mr. Trump's philosophy," the New York Times reports. For many of the Republicans who voted against the spending bill, the biggest issue was a provision to lift the debt limit for more than two years. The current debt limit expires on Jan. 1 and Trump wants to see the issue dealt with before he takes office on Jan. 20, the AP reports.

• The 38th GOP vote against. The Washington Post reports that there was "unintended drama" at the last minute when GOP Rep. Kat Cammack, the last lawmaker to vote, filled out cards both for and against the bill before finally choosing to vote no. She told reporters that as a "constitutional conservative," she couldn't vote to raise the debt limit unless major spending cuts were made.

• Threats from Trump. The Post reports that Trump singled out Rep. Chip Roy in Truth Social posts, calling for him to face primary opposition for getting in the way of a "Great Republican Victory." Roy said he made "no apologies" for his position and slammed the bill as a "bad deal."
• The view from the Senate. Senate Republicans blasted the drama in the House as a "fiasco," the Hill reports. "I get weary with the drama associated with this. This is so dysfunctional and so distracting from the things we should be doing," said GOP Sen. John Cornyn. The current majority leader, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, said lawmakers should revive the bipartisan plan that was set to pass before Trump and Elon Musk came out against it.
• Signs of discord ahead. The clash over the spending bill was seen as a sign of more drama ahead in the next Congress, when the GOP majority in the House will be even slimmer. The collapse of the bipartisan bill will "probably be a good trailer right now for the 119th Congress," said GOP Rep. Steve Womack, who voted in favor of the Plan B. The AP reports that GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro, who presided over a raucous debate on the spending bill, slammed the speaker's gavel with so much force that it broke.
• Potential shutdown. The government will shut down at 12:01am on Saturday if no deal is passed, though the effects might not be felt until Monday, NBC News reports. A shutdown would mean the government couldn't pay millions of employees, though agencies like the TSA have contingency plans that allow them to keep operating.

(More spending bill stories.)