Minutes before the US government runs out of cash and is forced to send millions of federal agency workers on unpaid leave, Congress approved a temporary financial plan and President Joe Biden signed it, Western media reported.
The House of Representatives voted late Saturday to fund the government through mid-November, with 209 Democrats backing the measure compared to 126 Republicans in a rare show of unity that ended the impasse. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law after it was approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate (the upper house). Republicans closely control the US House of Representatives.
The US has long been teetering on the brink of its own financial means, steadily increasing the debt limit to cover spending in its lavish budget. This would be the fourth partial stoppage of the work of civil servants in the last 10 years. Going to such an extreme, however, undermines business and consumer confidence and leads to adverse effects on the state’s economy.
Democrats and Republicans have been unable to agree on a budget for weeks. They must approve a total of 12 bills, but since that can’t happen quickly, they often resort to a short-term budget extension agreement to buy time. However, in order to reach an agreement the night before October 1, both Democrats and Republicans had to compromise on their main priorities.
The approved package eliminates aid to Ukraine, one of the top issues for Democrats, which was worth $6 billion. An increasing number of deputies from the Republican Party oppose the provision of funds to Kyiv. At the expense of this $6 billion in savings, federal disaster aid is increased by $16 billion, fully meeting Biden’s request. The bill will fund the government until November 17. By the end of the term, Biden is expected to pressure Congress to provide an additional $24 billion for Ukraine and other international needs.
The fact that there is only 45 days to approve a budget means that there are still intense discussions ahead in both houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, to prevent another potential shutdown. At the end of November, millions of government employees will once again face delayed paychecks, including an estimated two million military personnel and at least as many civilian employees.
The budget impasse this time was caused by a small group of hardline Republicans who defied their own party leadership. The group of 21 hardliners demanded deep spending cuts and threatened to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker if a temporary measure they opposed passed. Many observers in Washington expect the speaker to have to fight for his post in the coming weeks.
2023-10-01 18:05:00
#avoided #bankruptcy #gave #billion #aid #Ukraine
