US President-elect Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers Wednesday to scupper a cross-party deal to avert a fast-looming US government shutdown, as the White House accused him of "playing politics."

Staring down a Friday night deadline to fund federal agencies, party leaders in Congress had agreed on a "continuing resolution" (CR) to keep the lights on until mid-March and avoid having to send public workers home without pay over Christmas.

But the compromise was pilloried by numerous Republicans -- most notably tech billionaire Elon Musk, whom Trump has charged with slashing government spending in his second term.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has emerged as a major voice in US politics and took to his X platform with a flurry of posts -- many of them inaccurate -- denouncing extra spending in the text that ballooned costs.

Trump holds huge sway over Republicans and his intervention makes it almost certain that the bill will fail.

Suggesting that concessions to Democrats in the text were "a betrayal of our country," Trump called in a joint statement with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance for........

© International Business Times