House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said as he entered the Capitol that votes in the House were expected this morning.

“So everyone stay tuned, we have a plan,” he said.

Members of the Freedom Caucus and other conservatives such as Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., have already entered his office.

Vice President-elect JD Vance, still a senator from Ohio, also arrived and entered the speaker’s office through a back door.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social account overnight that Congress should either abolish the debt ceiling or suspend it until after his presidency.

“Congress needs to abolish the ridiculous debt ceiling, or perhaps extend it through 2029. Without this we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is president,” he said on his Truth Social account shortly after 1 a.m

Trump called for abolishing the debt ceiling in a telephone interview with NBC News yesterday.

It was the time of the government shutdown in Washington, and many people were stirring throughout the House of Representatives – especially Elon Musk.

Members of Congress expected a smooth transition to the holidays. They had a bipartisan deal that kept the government funded and sent them all on their merry way back to their districts.

But then they got a taste of what the next four years could look like with Donald Trump back in the White House and Musk, the world’s richest man, wielding enormous power over the political process.

On Wednesday, Trump — with help from Musk — effectively killed the funding bill crafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a 1,500-page bill full of byproducts of the traditional horse-trading that generally defines how business is conducted in Congress.

Read the full story here.

The House of Representatives late yesterday rejected a bill that would temporarily maintain funding for the government after Republican leaders broke an earlier bipartisan agreement and made changes to appease Trump, Musk and an internal Republican rebellion. The vote was 174-235, with one Democrat present, well short of the two-thirds majority needed for fast-track passage. NBC News’ Brie Jackson has all the details on “Early TODAY.”

A continuing resolution – often referred to as a “CR” in shorthand – is a bridge financing measure that provides the government with temporary funds at current levels for a specified period of time.

Each year, Congress is expected to fund the government by October 1, the start of the fiscal year. Failing that, the House and Senate may also approve a continuing resolution to temporarily maintain government operations at previously approved levels.

In October, both chambers passed a continuing resolution setting December 20 as the new deadline for funding the government. Earlier this week, House and Senate leaders unveiled the text of a new continuing resolution they hoped would pass on a bipartisan basis to fund the government at current levels through March 14.

Their hopes of passing the deal were dashed after Trump, Vance and tech mogul Elon Musk spoke out against the bill, denting Republican support for it.

In the event of a government shutdown, all non-essential government functions will be placed on pause and the federal government will be unable to pay federal employees. Hundreds of thousands of employees could be furloughed for the duration of the shutdown, while others would work without pay.

During a government shutdown in 2013, 850,000 federal employees were furloughed.

Military and federal public safety employees, such as TSA agents and air traffic control personnel, are typically “exempt” from furlough and continue to work during a government shutdown. Each federal agency has a contingency plan for what to do during a shutdown.

Other “essential” functions of government — such as sending Social Security checks and payments for Medicare and Medicaid — are expected to continue even during a government shutdown.