WASHINGTON – Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republican leaders struggled Thursday to come up with a replacement plan to keep the government open after billionaire Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump called on conservatives to scuttle their bipartisan funding deal .

With less than 36 hours to go before a deadline that would shut down much of the federal government and furloughed workers, they have no plan or even an idea of ​​what comes next.

They do not negotiate with the Democrats, even though they need their support to pass a law. They talk among themselves.

“We don’t know anything yet,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-La., an ally of Johnson, R-La., told reporters as he entered the speaker’s office.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chairman of the Appropriations Committee that oversees state funding, said he didn’t know whether he could expect a “stripped-down” bill that would continue existing funding and add money for disaster relief, what may be the case is the path of least resistance.

“I have no expectations,” Cole said.

House Republican leaders are in disarray, leaving their rank-and-file members and senators from both parties guessing as they work to find a path forward that can meet Trump’s demands and win enough support to pass the divided Congress and to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the new majority leader, told NBC News that Senate GOP leaders are waiting to see what House leadership can pass in their chamber.

“I haven’t heard from them,” Barrasso said.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders criticized Johnson and his team for reneging on a bipartisan deal he signed.

Some noted that this diminished the credibility of House Republican leadership in future negotiations. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said there is “a big trust issue.”

On Wednesday evening, Trump gave the funding negotiations an unexpected twist when he criticized the bipartisan funding deal negotiated by Johnson. And in a last-minute demand, he threatened to go after Republicans if they didn’t introduce a provision to extend the debt limit months before the deadline to avoid an economically catastrophic default next year – a monumental demand, which faces a shutdown deadline with less than two days to go.

On Thursday morning, Trump went even further, telling NBC News that Congress must eliminate the debt ceiling entirely. In a telephone interview, Trump pointed out that some Democrats have wanted to lower the debt ceiling for years and that he would “take the lead” in doing so.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the former budget committee chair and now the panel’s top Democrat, criticized Johnson and Republicans for failing to honor the bipartisan funding deal reached just days earlier.

She said there was a “good agreement” moving forward, “except for President Musk.”

When asked if the tech billionaire was in charge for Republicans, DeLauro replied: “It seems to me so!”

(Trump told NBC News on Thursday that Musk made a series of statements aimed at scuttling the bipartisan compromise only after discussing it with the president-elect, saying the two were united on the issue Opinion.)

After a private meeting with House Democrats, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said his party continued to support the bipartisan agreement with Johnson and the GOP to keep the government open through March 14.

However, when asked by NBC News whether Democrats might support a slimmed-down package that would fund the government and include only a farm bill and disaster aid, Jeffries twice refused to rule out that possibility.

“We stand ready to move forward with the bipartisan agreement that we thought was negotiated in good faith with House Republicans – along with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans – and that meets the needs of the American people in this Moment corresponds,” Jeffries said at his leadership press conference speech.

“We fight for ordinary Americans, not millionaires and billionaires. We fight for everyday Americans who will be harmed by a reckless Republican shutdown.”

Jeffries added that any debate about extending or eliminating the debt ceiling is currently “premature at best.”

And in a telling sign, Jeffries said he didn’t know who among Republicans would be responsible for negotiating a deal, calling it a “great question.”

“I don’t have any answers right now,” he said.

Garcia said many Democrats are not interested in giving in to Trump’s demands for a debt ceiling, given what he plans to do.

“Donald Trump wants to abolish the debt ceiling because he essentially wants to pass huge tax cuts to enrich his friends, Elon Musk and his companies, and redistribute the hard-working wealth earned by the American middle class,” the congressman said. “And so we can discuss the debt ceiling separately.”

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said he sympathized with Johnson and claimed that even “the Lord Jesus would have a very difficult time leading this conference.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who just won re-election in a swing district, said on MSNBC that it was “absolutely clear that Donald Trump is in charge” and that Republicans have Democrats’ support for a bill need.

“The reality here is very simple. We have to negotiate,” Lawler told host Andrea Mitchell. “I will remind everyone that we are in a divided government. Still, Democrats control the Senate and the White House, so there will have to be a bipartisan negotiation.”

While Musk calls for a government shutdown by January 20 – when Trump will be inaugurated as president and Republicans will control Congress – what remains unsaid is that the GOP would still need Democratic support to bring it back to open.