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A deal to keep the US federal government open is in doubt after Donald Trump urged his Republican allies in Congress to reject a “stupid” and “incompetent” funding compromise hammered out by Democrats. .

The president-elect’s broadside on Wednesday left the Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson climbing for a new agreement with only two days left before the end of the funding and the federal authorities were forced to stop some programs and suspend the payment of some employees.

“The only way to do that is a temporary funding bill with NO DEMOCRATIC GIVEAWAYS combined with a debt ceiling increase,” Trump X said in a statement on Wednesday. “Anything else is a betrayal of our country.”

Trump’s intervention means Johnson, a close ally of the president-elect, must scrap the existing bipartisan deal or risk Trump’s wrath by calling a vote in the House of Representatives to ratify it.

The White House called on Republicans to “stop playing politics” or risk hurting the American people and causing instability. “President-elect Trump and vice president-elect (JD) Vance ordered the Republicans to shut down the government . . . A deal is a deal. “Republicans must keep their word,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The latest funding debate caps a tumultuous few years for Congress, where the right-wing Republicans have repeatedly threatened their own House leadership, including a coup that ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023.

With a narrow Republican majority in the House, any defections from Johnson’s own party would force him to rely on Democrats to pass a so-called continuing resolution to provide temporary funding to federal government.

The leader of the House Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries, said: “The Republicans in the House were ordered to shut down the government. And hurt the American workers they claim to support.”

The funding bill would keep the estimated $6.75tn federal budget running at current levels until March 14, when Republicans will take control of Congress following last month’s victory in the general election. The money keeps a wide range of federal programs afloat, including defense, regulators, national parks and air travel safety.

But Trump and other Republican allies including billionaire Elon Musk have criticized what they say is spending on Democrats’ “gifts” in Johnson’s bipartisan bill.

Trump and Vance said in their statement that Republicans should “ACCEPT and MOVE”, and “if the Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF”.

Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — whom Trump has tasked with slashing government spending when he regains the White House next year — railed against the social media bill on Wednesday, threatening what Musk called “pork politicians— barrel” that can support it.

“Any member of the House or Senate who voted for this terrible spending bill should be voted out in 2 years,” Musk said in a post on his social media platform X.

He also called the bill “terrible”, “criminal” and “a scam”.

Congress has until the end of Friday to pass the 1,500-page bipartisan bill, which was introduced only on Tuesday.

Without funding, the government will freeze some programs and send home “non-essential” federal workers. Federal employees will stop receiving their paychecks, including those who serve in the military.

While social security checks will still be sent, some administrative matters may be delayed.

The bipartisan deal includes about $110bn in disaster relief, $10bn in economic aid for farmers, funding to replace a collapsed bridge in Maryland and pay raises for members of Congress.

Musk took exception to the increase in the salaries of politicians.

“How can this be called a ‘continuing resolution’ when it includes a 40% pay raise for Congress?”

Trump also called for any funding deal to include raising the US debt ceiling, a rule that governs how much money the federal government can borrow.

“The most stupid and bad thing that Congressional Republicans have done is to allow our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025. It was a mistake and now it’s something that needs to be addressed,” he and Vance said.