Given the kind of year we’ve had, perhaps it’s only fitting that 2024 ends with a chaotic fight over government funding: after twelve months of upheaval and dysfunction, why not one last frenzy a closure policy to top it off?

As the country headed into a shutdown Friday, Republicans began pointing fingers. Donald Trumpthe president-elect who helped doom the bipartisan spending deal Mike Johnson had hoped to inaugurate his chamber earlier in the week, placing blame on the current administration, posting on social media that “if there is going to be a government shutdown, let it start now.” He added: “This is a Biden problem to solve.” Vice President Elect J.D. Vanceafter a Trump-backed funding measure failed Thursday night, placed the blame on House Democrats, telling reporters they rejected the bill to deprive Trump of “negotiating leverage” over the course of the first year of his mandate and to “fight for global censorship bullshit”. »: “They called for a stop”, Vance said Democrats, “and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to get.”

But make no mistake: Whether or not lawmakers reach an agreement before Friday night’s deadline, Republicans are responsible for the chaos that has led us to this moment.

As of Tuesday night, Johnson had a plan to keep the government funded through the first two months of Trump’s presidency — a plan that, with Democratic support, might have overcome the challenge of Washington’s division. But on Wednesday, Elon Musk— the richest man in the world, one of Trump’s most influential advisors and, by all accounts, a shadow president of sorts —torpedoed the resolution continues with an incessant publishing marathon full of lies. House Republicans announced their opposition to Johnson’s bill, and by the end of the day, Trump and Vance had expressed their disapproval and begun issuing their own demands, including that the debt ceiling be high until 2029the end of their mandate, or completely abolished. “It doesn’t mean anything except psychologically,” Trump told NBC News of the debt limit.

Some of its members – 38 of them in fact – apparently disagreed and voted against the stopgap: “It’s embarrassing,” said one Texas congressman. Chip Roy said in a fiery speech, criticizing his party for supporting a bill that would increase the debt. “It’s shameful.” That drew a rebuke from Trump, who called for a primary challenge against the Freedom Caucus congressman. Roy “stands in the way, as usual, of another big Republican victory – all for cheap publicity,” Trump job THURSDAY. “Republican obstructionists must be eliminated. »

Roy doesn’t seem particularly worried about his political prospects at this point. Johnson’s, on the other hand, seems more immediately precarious: if he wants to keep his job, he will have to be re-elected on January 3. The last time Republicans elected a president, it took 15 rounds-and some important concessions from Kevin McCarthy. Radical conference members McCarthy ousted less than a year after that rescission motion, after the then-California congressman challenged his right flank in a fight over government funding. Sound familiar?

Some Republicans started fantasize on giving the gavel to Musk, who insists the government be shut down until Trump takes office: “Everything will be fine for 33 days,” he said this week. Asked if he remained confident in Johnson, Trump was evasive: “We’ll see,” he told NBC News.

But however this all plays out, one thing seems clear: This is a preview of the tumult that awaits us when Trump assumes the presidency in a month. “This,” as the outgoing Senate minority leader said Mitch McConnell put it on“this is how it’s going to be next year.”