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Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reportedly plans to bring a third spending bill to the House floor for a vote on Friday morning, just hours before an increasingly likely federal government shutdown at midnight. The bill must pass in the House, clear the Senate, and be signed into law by President Joe Biden to avert a shutdown, which would come just days before Christmas as Congress plans to leave D.C. for its holiday recess.

Given Johnson's razor-thin majority, he will need votes from Democrats, who are furious over his refusal to negotiate with them. As CBS News' Scott MacFarlane reports, "Democratic votes are needed - no matter what — to avoid a shutdown."

MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-host Johnathan Lemire turned the floor over to Chris Matthews on Friday morning and the former MSNBC host didn't hold back, roasting billionaire Elon Musk as a "clown" and a "fool" who is putting the continuing operation of the government at risk.

Reflecting on the possible government shutdown, in large part due to the billionaire's threats aimed at GOP lawmakers, Matthews fired off a breathless rant suggesting that Musk is ignorant about how government works.

After taking a shot at Donald Trump for serving up "dead fish" as his nominees for his Cabinet, he turned his ire on Musk, stating, "Musk is an idiot. He may be a genius at making money, but we have to kill this habit of thinking everybody knows how to make money with e-cars or whatever else, somehow knows something about civics."

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"He doesn't know anything about running the House of Representatives. he doesn't know anything about getting a majority vote," he exclaimed. "[Former senior Democrat] Howard Baker said you have to get to the third grade to be able to know how to win in the Senate –– that's called 51 votes –– you have to understand it."

"This clown, and he is a clown, knows nothing about government," he continued. "He knows all about making money. One time I actually agree with [Vermont Sen.} Bernie Sanders this time around: he's one of the millionaires and billionaires that ought to stay out of our face. They make money? Okay, but stop running the United States government ––that's what Musk is doing right now this weekend."

"The only theory I do have, and I love it, is that Trump is planning to destroy Elon Musk," he continued. "He puts him out there in the beginning, late in the Biden administration and he has him destroy himself because he can't work with the Congress, he can't put together a coalition, he can't get 218 votes, which is the name of the game in the House of Representatives –– 218. I live with that for six years with Tip O'Neill. If you don't get 218, you lose. Tell him that! Blame it all on Musk."

"I think Trump would like to get rid of his new dancing partner. I don't think he really wants him around, he doesn't like him around. He's basically saying already, 'When are you leaving?' I think he means it."

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During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," regular contributor Claire McCaskill claimed Thursday's failure by the Republican-dominated House to pass a budget that would forestall a government shutdown was a blow to Donald Trump's reputation.

As she noted, it was made worse because he was overshadowed by adviser Elon Musk who led the charge to defeat a bipartisan agreement making it look like the president-elect's billionaire adviser is the one calling the shots.

House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) appears to be on the brink of losing his gavel when the next Congress is sworn in next month.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk killed a bipartisan government funding bill Wednesday, and Johnson has seemingly lost the support of many Republicans to hold onto his job, which senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) suggested should go to Musk, the South Africa-born tech billionaire who the president-elect tapped to slash trillions from the federal budget.

Reacting to the looming government shutdown which can mainly be attributed to interference from president-elect Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk, MSNBC's Ali Vitali told the panel on "Morning Joe" this is just a precursor to what the GOP leadership can expect for the next four years.

Vitali, who is taking over the reins of "MSNBC's "Way Too Early" next week, told outgoing host Jonathan Lemire that the failure of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to get his caucus to fall in line with Trump's budget demands has made his life a living hell and cast doubt he will remain in his senior position next year.

But, as she noted, what other Republicans in the House would want the thankless job.

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According to Vitali, having Musk whispering in Trump's ear is bad news for lawmakers wanting to just do their jobs.

"Look, the question of the last few years is who is going to be the next speaker?" she began. [Ex-House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy is ousted and you go through three weeks of chaos. The real question we should be asking is: why would anyone want to be speaker at this point? It is easily the most difficult and thankless job in Washington. "

"President-elect Trump has only shown that it's going to be worse this time around for whoever it is, he clearly can't be predicted to even stay on his team's side once they have a negotiation they feel is palatable to move forward with," she added.

"I've got to go to the hospital," a pregnant woman filmed by the Louisville Metro Police Department's body cameras in late September told officers, standing near a mattress beneath a busy overpass. "What am I doing wrong?"

The woman was in labor and had told the police as they approached her that she thought her water had broken, but that didn't stop the officers from giving her a ticket for violating a new Kentucky law that bans all street camping—one of dozens of laws criminalizing homelessness that were passed this year.

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has crafted a replacement spending bill to prevent a government shutdown at 12:01 AM on Saturday. The proposal, driven by Donald Trump’s demands, is being viewed by some as a test of loyalty to the President-elect. To pass, the bill will require substantial bipartisan support, including a two-thirds majority in Thursday night’s planned vote — a feat that appears unlikely given the opposition within the Democratic caucus.

Some on both sides of the aisle are opposed to Trump's demand that the bill include a provision that would eliminate or extend the debt ceiling. The legislation extends it into 2027, forcing the party that will be in charge after the November 2026 midterms to deal with it once again.

Recent reporting that President Joe Biden’s health was far more diminished than the administration led on was proclaimed to be “the biggest scandal in America” by longtime GOP insider Scott Jennings – a declaration a Democratic strategist only minorly pushed back on.

Responding to a Wall Street Journal article out Thursday that reported signs of Biden’s decline came within months of his taking office, Jennings eagerly cast doubt on Biden’s entire presidency.

A Democratic strategist poked her Republican counterpart Thursday night on CNN, leading to a verbal dust-up.

The moment came between Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky and Republican strategist Scott Jennings on "NewsNight" during a discussion on the implosion of the GOP-led spending bill.

A CNN host’s persistent interjections during an interview with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) caused the exasperated lawmaker to ask if she wanted an answer – or a debate.

The moment happened Thursday night on CNN’s “The Source” when host Kaitlan Collins refused to let Lawler get by on his outrage that Democrats sunk a revised temporary spending bill that collapsed in the House amid a looming government shutdown.

A frustrated Vice President-elect J.D. Vance gave a curt message to Democrats on Thursday after the GOP-led House funding bill imploded: Be careful what you wish for.

Republicans fell well short of the required 290 "yes" votes to pass the bill, securing just 174. Thirty-eight Republicans voted against the deal, setting the federal government up to shut down at midnight Friday.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) went after his GOP colleagues in the House while delivering heated remarks on Thursday targeting the now-failed Donald Trump-backed spending bill as the federal government faces a looming government shutdown.

Roy didn’t shy away from admonishing his own party in his floor speech that exposed party rifts weeks before Trump returned to the White House with a Republican trifecta. The MAGA lawmaker was especially fired up by Trump’s demand that lawmakers increase the debt ceiling.