US Congress rejects Trump-backed spending plan 

A spending bill supported by Donald Trump has failed in the US House of Representatives as dozens of Republicans defied the president-elect.

A day before a potential government shutdown, the US Congress resoundingly rejected president-elect Donald Trump's new plan to fund operations and suspend the debt ceiling.

Democrats blasted the bill and 38 Republicans voted against it too, with one representative saying he was ‘sickened’ by the package.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson advised the US to ‘stay tuned’ and said “we will come up with another solution”.

The package would have increased spending and cleared the way for a plan that would add trillions more to the federal government's $US36 trillion ($58 trillion) debt.