Hours before government shutdown, Rep. Jill Tokuda says time is running out

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The U.S. is less than 12 hours away from a potential government shutdown and Congress is scrambling quickly trying come up with a passable spending plan.

A Republican-negotiated plan to fund the federal government failed to pass the House on Thursday. The vote, 235-174. There needed to be two-thirds of members supporting the bill for it to pass.

Congresswoman Jill Tokuda spoke with Hawaii News Now Sunrise Friday morning live from Washington to give an update on how things are going on Capitol Hill.

When asked what she knows so far, she answered “Well first all, let’s be clear, if there is no, you know, continuing resolution, we are not leaving at all.”

“We are staying put here to do the work as long as we possibly have to do. But that being said, we’d love to have this done before midnight tonight when the government would shut down. There is no official Plan C, as Speaker Johnson has put it, actually offered to us just yet. So there’s nothing on the table yet.”

RELATED: Floating a new plan, Speaker Johnson insists there will be no government shutdown

Tokuda said House Republicans were planning on re-convening mid-day Friday so they’re expecting a proposal soon.

“We have heard it will be not one continuing resolution, but perhaps three separate bills, a clean continuing resolution with the farm bill attached disaster aid and one which we have been fighting for months, as you know, and asking for it,” she said.

Tokuda was passionate about how social media has played a major role in Congress’ delay.

“The hard part is that this could have been done days ago. We had a bipartisan agreement that was literally broken by one tweet by President Musk. And that is absolutely not acceptable, and it should be unacceptable to the American people,” Tokuda shared.

On Wednesday, Elon Musk shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”

When asked what makes this situation different from the last government shutdown, Tokuda said this “was the most extreme example of outside influence... from people who aren’t even elected or serving in office, not accountable to anyone.”

“Typically in any legislative session, it’s about the different sides coming together to find agreement. The four corners, as we call it here, the Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate, even to conferring with the White House as to what would be acceptable. This was the most extreme example of outside influence. When you take a look at the fact that, you know, Elon Musk literally tweeted out five words, this is not a good bill, and then barraged X with a series of tweets about how this was wrong. You started to see the erosion of support on the Republican side quickly. They got cold feet, making sure we keep the wheels of government turning, passing a C.R.”

“At the end of the day, doing what’s right for the American people, all of our constituents, and having political courage.”

With how things are going right now, Tokuda said she believes there may be a day or two of a shutdown over the weekend.

“Remember, this is just half of the body that has to approve it. We still need to get this over to the Senate and to the president’s desk for signature as well. And so I wish I could say, you know, no government is not shutting down. But with less than 12 hours clock, it’s ticking fast.”

“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted early in the morning on social media.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson is insisting there will be no government shutdown.

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