The US Congress approved an extension of the federal budget on Wednesday. This was a rare show of unity between the parties and prevented paralysis of the US government in the run-up to Thanksgiving and the year-end holidays.
• Also read: Vote in the US Congress to avoid budget paralysis
After the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, the Senate on Wednesday night from Friday to Saturday approved by an overwhelming majority of 87 votes to 11 an agreement to extend the budget, which expires at midnight, until mid-January.
This extension, the result of tough negotiations at the Capitol, does not take into account aid to Israel and Ukraine, each at war with Hamas and Russia, or to Taiwan.
If it had not been adopted, 1.5 million civil servants would have lost their salaries, air traffic would have been disrupted and doors to national parks would have been closed to visitors.
Most elected officials from both camps did not want this extremely unpopular situation, the famous “shutdown,” especially in the run-up to Thanksgiving, November 23rd.
Democrats wanted a huge amount for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but ultimately each aid will be treated individually, at the request of Republicans who are somewhat hesitant about the $61 billion in military aid to Kiev. However, they are the first to call for massive support for Israel and a firm stance against Beijing.
“Far from perfect”
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged that the bill is “far from perfect” but that it achieves Democrats’ goal of avoiding a shutdown.
Differences in Congress — between Republicans, who hold the majority in the House of Representatives, and Democrats, who have control of the Senate — are so great that elected officials are currently unable to vote on one-year budgets, unlike the one , which most economies in the world do.
Instead, the United States will have to make do with a series of one- or two-month mini-budgets.
Every time one of these budgets expires, everything has to be done again: bitter negotiations, extensively commented on social networks, threats, then a series of votes, in the House of Representatives, in the Senate…
The most recent negotiations over the American federal budget at the end of September plunged Congress into chaos.
Trumpist elected officials were furious that then-Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy had reached a last-minute deal with the Democratic camp and fired him on October 3, an unprecedented situation.
This time the agreement on the table provides for the budget to be extended for two different periods: one until mid-January and the other until the beginning of February.
It was introduced by the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who is unknown to the general public and has very limited experience on the Republican staff.
In any case, he will be forced, like his predecessor, to contend with a handful of Trumpists, adherents of very strict fiscal orthodoxy, and Democrats who refuse to let the former president’s lieutenants dictate the country’s economic policy.
These are the same conservative elected officials who brought the United States to the brink four months ago.
After long negotiations between the Biden government and the conservatives, the leading world power was able to prevent a default at the last minute.