Now, Republican leadership must go back to the drawing board, and they only have until 23:59 EDT (04:59 GMT) to reach a deal before funding expires and the government shuts down.
A government shutdown would cause federal services – ranging from the National Park Service to Border Patrol – to limit and begin closing operations this weekend.
Trump and Vice-President-elect JD Vance dealt the final blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s bipartisan funding bill on Wednesday night following a pressure campaign led by Mr Musk on X.
Mr Musk, who Trump has tasked with cutting government spending in his future administration, lobbied heavily against the existing deal posting repeatedly on Wednesday against the bill, often with false statements.
The president and vice-president elect are pushing for streamlined legislation that does not include Democratic-backed provisions that Johnson negotiated with his colleagues across the aisle.
The now-dead bipartisan deal would have extended government funding until March 14 – several months after Trump returns to the White House.
The legislation is necessary because Congress never passed a budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which began on 1 October. Instead, lawmakers opted to pass a short-term funding extension until December 20.
They also called, in a joint statement, for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, which determines how much the government can borrow to pay its bills, and limit the funding legislation to temporary spending and disaster relief.
“Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling,” the statement read.
They called anything else “a betrayal of our country.”
In posts on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump threatened to help unseat “any Republican that would be so stupid as to” vote in favour of the current version of the bill, which was unveiled on Tuesday.
“If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF,” he said.
