A spending bill backed by Donald Trump failed in the  US House of Representatives on Thursday as several  Republicans defied the President-elect, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown a step closer.

The vote laid bare fault lines in Trump's Republican Party that could surface again next year when they control the White House and both chambers of Congress.

A revised spending plan failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed in the lower chamber of Congress, with 38 Republicans voting against the Bill on Thursday night, defying the president-elect.

Trump had thwarted a previous cross-party funding deal that the Republican House leadership had struck with Democrats, after heavy criticism of the measure by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

By a vote of 174-235, the House of Representatives rejected the Trump-backed package, hastily assembled by Republican leaders after the president-elect and his billionaire ally and increasingly close political partner Elon Musk scuttled a prior bipartisan deal.