The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has called the four congressional leaders to a meeting this Tuesday (27) in which he wants to lay the groundwork for a financing agreement that will avoid a partial government shutdown from Friday, March 1. At the same time, he will try to push ahead with approval of new aid for Ukraine, a project that has stalled in the Republicanmajority House of Representatives.
The deadline is tight. Funding for areas such as military construction, water development and the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development expires this week, while the remaining eight spending bills expire March 8.
The meeting will include House President Mike Johnson and Senate President Chuck Schumer, as well as the minority leaders in both houses, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries.
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The Hill website reminds that the meeting comes after Schumer and Johnson attacked each other over the weekend, blaming each other for the delay in announcing the budget proposals.
In addition to the important issue of government funding, Biden has been calling on Congress for weeks to approve additional aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, warning that inaction at this point would be a historic failure that would impact both the global and domestic sectors could endanger safety. .
Earlier this month, the Senate overwhelmingly approved national security funding that included money for Ukraine, Israel and IndoPacific allies, but the House paused before voting on the issue and attempted to insert action into the bill Security of the country's borders, a demand of the most radical wing of the Republican Party.
It is expected that Biden will use the difficult moment in relations with the chamber for his State of the Union address, scheduled for March 7, which is expected to mark the official start of his reelection campaign.