The White House can breathe a sigh of relief. The United States avoided a last-minute paralysis of its federal administration when the Senate passed an emergency measure allowing temporary continuation of its funding just three hours before the shutdown.
In a last-minute about-face, the House initially passed this text proposed by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, a final attempt to avoid paralysis. It passed with 335 votes in favor (91 against) in the House of Representatives and was subsequently approved by 88 senators with 9 votes against, thereby avoiding, in extreme cases, a “shutdown,” pushing civil servants into technical unemployment and cutting food aid to certain beneficiaries would have.
Biden keeps up pressure on aid to Ukraine
Joe Biden immediately welcomed the agreement reached in the Senate and called on Congress to quickly approve aid to Ukraine. This is a stumbling block between Democrats and many Republicans and is currently largely missing from the text.
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The emergency measure passed by Congress provides for the administration to remain funded for another 45 days. If it had not been passed before midnight, there would have been a deceleration in the world’s largest economy this Sunday: 1.5 million public servants would have been deprived of their salaries, air traffic would have been disrupted, while visitors to national parks would have stood in front of closed doors .
Lawmakers must now consider a separate bill for $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which Joe Biden wanted to include in the budget. According to American media, a vote could take place early next week.
McCarthy under pressure from Trumpists
“What Russia did is wrong. But I think whatever we do, we have to define what victory means and what the plan should be,” McCarthy told the press. “I think there is a real frustration across America that this president is ignoring the borders of the United States and is more concerned about somewhere else,” he added, referring to what Republicans have called the “migrant crisis in the United States”.
A handful of Trumpist Republican elected officials are refusing to provide new aid money to Kyiv because they believe those funds should be allocated to addressing the migration crisis. These Donald Trump surrogates, who wield disproportionate power due to the very small Republican majority in the House of Representatives, were ordered by the former president, who could face Joe Biden in 2024, to “paralyze the state” unless he wins his case. “All” budgetary issues under debate. Kevin McCarthy was elected at the expense of numerous negotiations with the Trumpists and is risking his seat in these negotiations.