WASHINGTON – House Republican leaders scrambled Friday to come up with a plan to avert a government shutdown hours before the deadline that would force U.S. troops, Border Patrol agents, air traffic controllers and millions of other federal workers to work without pay during the year work holidays.

Just three days ago, bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate agreed to keep the government running, but President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire confidant Elon Musk scuttled the deal, insisting at the last minute that that the debt limit must be extended or eliminated to make room for Trump’s agenda next year.

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A replacement plan advocated by Trump and Musk then went up in flames in the House of Representatives, supported by Democrats and 38 Republicans who objected to the debt extension.

Embattled Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., fighting to retain his leadership post, is now moving forward with Plan C. He proposes dividing the larger package into three separate parts – government funding through March 14, disaster relief and a farm bill extension, according to two Republican sources familiar with the plan – and lawmakers are expected to approve it individually Vote on it in plenary session.

There will be no vote on extending the debt limit, the sources said. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a Johnson critic, and other conservatives said they brought the multi-pronged approach directly to the speaker earlier this week.

But there is no guarantee that critical parts of the plan can pass the House or Senate or be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

“The lines of communication have been reopened,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters as he left a meeting with House Democrats without expressing his support.

Additionally, it could take days for the normally slow-moving Senate to debate and vote on a House funding package, meaning the federal government will most likely remain closed through the weekend — if not over the Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s holidays.

But Johnson has a big problem: He can’t pass a bill without Democrats, who still control the Senate and the White House and are determined not to give in to Trump’s last-minute demands. If Johnson fails to deliver for Trump, it could jeopardize his chances of being re-elected as speaker in two weeks, on January 3, with a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.

“This is a defining moment for his speaking career,” said Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., a Johnson critic. “What he does and how he handles it, how he handles our conference … will determine who he is, whether he is a serious leader and whether he will survive this leadership vote.”

Jeffries said Friday that Trump was rushing to lift the debt limit so Republicans could pass a tax cut for the rich next year.

“A painful government shutdown that will crash the economy and hurt working-class Americans because they would rather pass massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors than fund cancer research for children,” Jeffries said, referring to a provision in the original one agreement that the GOP leaders had drawn up.

Senate Democrats have called on Johnson to return to the bipartisan agreement that Trump and Musk blasted.

“It’s time to go back to the original agreement we had a few days ago. It’s time for it. It is time for the House to vote on our bipartisan CR (continuing resolution),” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor Friday. “It is the quickest, easiest and simplest way to ensure the government stays open while providing critical emergency relief to the American people.”

In the midst of the battle, Democrats believe they have found a populist economic message to win voters over by portraying Musk as an oligarch pulling Trump’s strings.

“I am prepared to stay here until Christmas because we will not let Elon Musk run the government,” Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement. “Simply put: We should not allow an unelected billionaire to undermine pediatric cancer research so he can get a tax cut.”