President-elect Donald Trump helped lead the critical charge this week that resulted in the abandonment of a bipartisan but bloated spending bill loaded with unrelated provisions that he disapproved of in favor of a much smaller and less pork-laden measure to fund the government over the next few months.

Unfortunately for Trump, the narrower bill that he preferred was soundly rejected by the House when put up for a vote Thursday night, including by dozens of his fellow Republicans, Fox News reported.

The stunning development has House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) scrambling to not only negotiate yet another last-minute deal to avoid a partial government shutdown that will commence at the end of Friday but also to maintain sufficient support among the GOP to retain his leadership role next year.

Trump celebrates killing original controversial spending bill

President-elect Trump and his allies sharply criticized and helped kill on Wednesday a short-term spending bill that would fund the government through March but also included a plethora of unrelated policy add-ons that ballooned the bill to more than 1,500 pages.

Out of that chaos came a slimmed-down replacement bill that likewise provided funding through March and contained only a few extra riders like hurricane disaster relief, aid for farmers, and a continued suspension of the national debt limit -- a specific Trump request -- that has been suspended since June 2023 but was set to go back into effect on Jan. 1.

"SUCCESS in Washington!" Trump proclaimed in a Truth Social post. "Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People. The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes."

"A VERY important piece, VITAL to the America First Agenda, was added as well -- The date of the very unnecessary Debt Ceiling will be pushed out two years, to January 30, 2027," he continued. "Now we can Make America Great Again, very quickly, which is what the People gave us a mandate to accomplish."

The incoming president added, "All Republicans, and even the Democrats, should do what is best for our Country, and vote 'YES' for this Bill, TONIGHT!"

Trump-backed replacement bill voted down by House

Yet, it would seem that President-elect Trump's celebratory post was premature, as the Associated Press reported that the Trump-backed replacement bill was decisively rejected by the House, 174-235, including by many of his fellow Republicans.

Even if Speaker Johnson had garnered total GOP unity in support of the scaled-down funding measure backed by Trump, the bill still would have failed as a two-thirds majority was necessary since the bill was pushed to a floor vote under a suspension of the normal rules for legislation that only require a simple majority for passage.

Nearly all Democrats voted against the bill after most of the unrelated provisions added to the original bill were stripped out while nearly three dozen Republicans also voted "No" because of their objections to the extension of the debt limit suspension.

Johnson working on a "Plan C"

Now, according to Politico, Speaker Johnson has moved on to a "Plan C" after the initial and replacement spending bills failed, though its prospects for passage also appear to be slim.

The most likely course of action going forward is to split the replacement bill into even smaller component pieces that will be voted on separately -- funding the government through March, relief for hurricane victims, and aid for farmers -- and then likely repackaged together under a special rule before being sent to the Senate for consideration.

How it would fare in the Democrat-controlled Senate is unclear, however, and the rumor mill is churning about even more options being considered to avoid a protracted standoff and partial shutdown, with one anonymous source involved in negotiations telling the outlet, "It is being floated that Trump cuts a deal with [Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and we swallow that deal over the weekend."