Trump's mass deportation plan plunged into crisis by ultra-conservative Republican rebels
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Donald Trump's multi-billion dollar deportation plan was plunged into doubt over the weekend as 38 Republican rebels defied his demands on the government funding bill. The president-elect faced the first major test of his influence over Republicans in the House in a chaotic few days that narrowly avoided a government shutdown.
![[Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left, and Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, leave a meeting to discuss President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday. Van Duyne was one of 38 Republicans who defied the president-elect on Thursday]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/06/93417385-14220421-image-a-1_1734934534492.jpg)
But it was not a test that Trump passed with flying colors. Although he was handed a resounding mandate by voters on November 5 - ultra-conservative Republicans rejected his Elon Musk-backed demand to lift the debt ceiling. Thirty-eight fiscal conservatives - including Kentucky 's Thomas Massie and South Carolina's Nancy Mace - defected on Thursday night despite Trump's loud protestations on his social media platform, TruthSocial.
![[Congresswoman Nancy Mace was among the other GOP rebels before the compromise was passed]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/05/93416443-14220421-image-a-14_1734932022392.jpg)
Then, hours before the deadline on Saturday morning, Congress passed a deal to keep the government funded through February - without lifting the debt ceiling. Marc Short, Trump's ex-legislative affairs director, warned that the rebellion 'did not portend well' for the president-elect's bold strategy at the border. Trump's mass deportation plan is estimated to cost north of $80 billion per year.
![[Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, was one of 38 GOP members to rebel]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/05/93416435-14220421-image-a-11_1734931942919.jpg)
The president-elect previously pledged that the cost of his plans for the border are 'not a question of a price tag.'. Donald Trump may face opposition on his mass deportation program from his own party over his demands to spend big on the border. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left, and Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, leave a meeting to discuss President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday. Van Duyne was one of 38 Republicans who defied the president-elect on Thursday.
![[The battle drew in Trump, DOGE co-chair Elon Musk and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to publicly tussle with fellow Republicans in addition to Democrats over the bill]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/05/93416437-14220421-image-a-12_1734931945462.jpg)
