The 1,547-page preliminary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown is effectively dead.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., all but scrapped the plan after President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Elon Musk fired up the package to prevent a government shutdown this weekend and the government to be financed by March 14th.

Had House Republicans had the votes to pass the bill — without leaning too heavily on Democrats — Republicans might have been able to pass the bill late Wednesday afternoon before lawmakers intervened. Trump and Vance. But there was just too much pressure from the grassroots, triggered by Musk on X and elsewhere.

The stopgap package proved unpopular due to its size, and various legislative ornaments decorated the bill like a Christmas tree. The Conservatives expected Johnson to handle the spending plan differently over the holidays this year. But it backfired. Bad.

It is notable that Mr. Trump only spoke out at the 11th hour. He also called for an increase in the debt ceiling. That’s something the president-elect had to grapple with in the first quarter of the year, threatening to derail any legislative agenda or potentially unsettle markets.

Johnson’s decision to veer off course — despite loudly touting the bill on Fox Wednesday morning — underscores several things.

This is a sign of things to come once President-elect Trump is in office. And that could pose problems for Johnson, as he may be dependent on the new president’s decisions?

Why did Johnson pull the bill?

It was extremely unpopular with his base. But it went further when Musk and the president-elect gave themselves a shot.

In many ways, Johnson’s decision to withdraw the bill was all about January 3rd. That is the day the Speaker votes. With 434 members, Johnson needs 218 votes to form the new Congress. Otherwise he will lack the majority and cannot become speaker. The House must vote again — as it did in January 2023 — before electing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, five days later in the longest election campaign since the 1850s.

Johnson tried to save himself from the Speaker’s vote by including emergency spending on agriculture in the bill. But Johnson is now trying to save himself by presenting a new bill.

The irony is that Johnson didn’t want to create drama with a spending package before Christmas. But it is the very drama that landed him in what is quickly becoming the worst holiday confrontation in Congress since the fiscal cliff in 2012 or the looming government shutdown in 2014.

So here’s the $64,000 question: What play does Johnson call next?

Is he making a clean CR to fund the government without any ties? Is this a bill that simply replenishes ongoing funding in connection with disaster relief? Do they add a debt ceiling suspension, as President-elect Trump has called for?

And then the biggest question of all: Can ANYTHING happen? Especially without Democratic votes?

Johnson has a section of the Conservatives who don’t vote for CR at all. Many of them would also not vote for raising the debt ceiling.

And even if there is a new bill, do the Conservatives insist on waiting three days to consider the bill? That triggers a government shutdown right there.

Deadline for entries is Friday, 11:59:59 p.m. ET.

So someone has to pull a rabbit out of a hat for that.

Today’s maneuver by President-elect Trump is reminiscent of a similar move in December 2019 that triggered the longest government shutdown in history.

Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., then-Budget Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and others thought they had struck a deal to fund the government and avoid a holiday season shutdown .

The Senate voted for the bill. During the vote, senators even sat in the back of the room and sang Christmas carols.

Mr. Trump then balked at the last minute. House Republicans followed suit. The government closed for more than a month