WASHINGTON – Congress reached an agreement in seconds to avert a government shutdown over the holidays. In doing so, however, he has extended an already extensive to-do list for President-elect Donald Trump’s first year back in office.

The funding law keeps the government open until March 14th. Even though Republicans will control the White House, House and Senate, they will need Democratic votes again to stop a shutdown in less than three months.

Additionally, Trump’s demand that Congress extend or eliminate the debt ceiling to take it off his plate next year failed dramatically. On Wednesday, he threatened primary challenges against “any Republican” who voted to fund the government without addressing the debt limit. On Friday, 170 Republicans in the House defied him and did just that.

This week’s turmoil is a foretaste of the legislative chaos that awaits Washington in the second Trump administration, as the new president faces a host of major deadlines and ambitions.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Republicans made a mistake by delaying funding until March 14 and should instead have passed a stopgap bill by the end of next September to free themselves up for Trump’s agenda.

“I think it’s kind of stupid,” he said of the new deadline. “Don’t ask me to explain or defend this dysfunction.”

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., said late Friday that the “lesson” of the last few days was: “Unity is our strength. “Disunity is the enemy of the conservative cause.”

He advised Trump and his team to avoid such a situation in the future by putting forward legislative demands “early” so that Republicans can “work out any differences that exist well in advance of a deadline.”

“The House needs to over-communicate within our various caucuses,” Barr said. “The House needs to over-communicate with Majority Leader (John) Thune (the new Senate), and both the House and Senate need to over-communicate with the administration.”

Communication has been particularly poor over the last four days. A day after Speaker Mike Johnson released an initial bipartisan deal, Trump and his billionaire confidant Elon Musk blasted it. The speaker went through three more iterations of his plan to avoid a shutdown and finally succeeded after nixing Trump’s most consequential – and last-minute – demand.

“I’m worried,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who is up for reelection in 2026. “Obviously we’ve seen this kind of chaos over the last two years. So I expect this to continue and probably get worse over the next two years.”

On Thursday night, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., downplayed what he called a “disjointed process,” saying it was a natural opportunity for House Republicans and Trump’s team to understand “how to get along with each other.” communicated”.

“It’s going to be great. Do you know why it will be great? Because now we know how to work together,” Van Orden said shortly before Speaker Johnson’s Plan B went up in flames in the House.

Van Orden’s counterpart from Wisconsin, Senator Johnson, was less optimistic about moving through the first part of Agenda 2025 smoothly.

“We have a big mess ahead of us, no doubt,” Johnson said. “So I try to under-promise and hopefully over-deliver.”

In addition to another federal funding deadline and a debt limit that must be addressed by mid-2025 to avert a catastrophic default, Trump and Republicans need Senate confirmation of his staff and they want to pass key partisan strengthening bills Immigration enforcement and extension of its tax law, which expires in 2017.

“It won’t be boring,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, deadpanned when asked about the tasks facing Congress next year.

There are also questions about Musk’s role after his role in the collapse of the original bipartisan funding deal caused a stir throughout the Capitol.

“Many people on both sides of the aisle are deeply disturbed that a billionaire is threatening people if they don’t vote the right way,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.

Last week’s tumult “predicts something very ominous for next year,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said after the House vote, pointing out that the Republican majority in the House will be even smaller next year .

“I think we’re in for a lot of turmoil on the Republican side of the House because Trump is dealing with instability, chaos and unrest,” Connolly said.

He also wondered whether Republicans will be able to elect a speaker with a razor-thin majority on January 3; It took 15 rounds of voting to elect a speaker at the start of the last Congress, and some far-right Republicans are unsure about Speaker Johnson after his handling of the shutdown threat this week.

“That’s why I’m leaving tonight very unsettled by what we just experienced,” Connolly said before the House adjourned for the holidays. “I find it very threatening and ominous.”