Welcome to the beat, everyone. I'm Ari Melbert, and we are following the ongoing spending

clash in Washington House Republicans say they have a new spending plan after the infighting

that led to Trump asking Republicans to back out of what had been their spending plan, all because

of a push by his billionaire, supporter, advisor, donor, Elon Musk.

We are looking at, of course, what's happening on the floor as the debates continue.

Trump says, yes.

Vote yes on this new proposal.

But the opposition now coming from Democrats.

The Musk Johnson proposal is not serious.

It's laughable.

Extreme Mago Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown.

That is a warning there that if Musk continues to get his way, we could actually have a

government shutdown. Remember, that is the exact opposite of what most Republicans want. That is a warning there that if Musk continues to get his way, we could actually have a government

shut down. Remember, that is the exact opposite of what most Republicans want right now.

They did win the election. They will have more power in January. So picking a fight during this

short ending period when Democrats actually have their power and are just trying to finish up

the session is kind of an

unforced error, according to many, but it's what Elon Musk demanded and then what Trump

joined in on. President Biden, we can tell you, returns to the White House this evening.

And this vote on a version of the new plan is coming this evening as well. We're monitoring

the House floor. So we begin on this

story with Washington Post news anchor Libby Casey and Seth Kite, politics reporter for Axios.

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