Hey, good morning. It is Saturday, December the 21st. Speaking of nuts, just hours ago,

Congress once again narrowly avoided another shutdown just days after President-elect

Donald Trump, and the guy who seems to be his boss, Elon Musk,

tanked the original bipartisan bill negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson. Funding for the government

technically ran out at midnight last night before the Senate had a chance to vote on the new

version of the bill that Johnson cobbled together at the last minute with his Republican colleagues

in the House. But the bill ultimately passed without a hitch, and the White House said the

president will sign it today and that all government agencies may continue their normal operations.

They sent that message out just before midnight last night. The continuing resolution,

as it's called, that Congress managed to pass will will keep the government funded until March 14, 2025.

It also includes $100 billion in disaster relief and additional $10 billion in aid for farmers and an extension of the farm bill.

The bill, however, does not address the debt ceiling, which was part of Trump's

11th hour demand that sent Congress members scrambling earlier this week. But House Republicans say

that they've agreed to a plan that will address that issue next year. Now, here's the thing.

We have seen this sort of chaos play out in Congress numerous times in the last couple of years,

and the threat of a government shutdown, something that was once rare.

Something to be avoided at all costs has become a more regular part of American politics.

But this week's showdown over the budget was quite revealing.

Despite the fact that Republicans will have control of both the House and the Senate beginning in January, this week proved that deep fractures remain within their conference.

And by fractures, I mean chaos. Get this. Look at those vote tallies. Not the most exciting thing to look at, but take a look at this.

More Democrats than Republicans voted in favor of the final

version of the bill that passed last night, which was put together by Speaker Johnson, a Republican.

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