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Eventually the turning point came in the United States. On Capitol Hill, the shutdown, which had been discussed for weeks, was averted at the last minute thanks to a compromise between moderate Republicans and Democrats. After hours of complicated negotiations that yielded a bipartisan commitment of support in Kiev, the Senate gave the measure the green light just three hours before the x-hour mark. Millions of American citizens will be saved without a paycheck, even if Ukraine pays for the deal and doesn’t receive the $6.2 billion demanded by President Joe Biden.
Biden: Kiev can count on us
The American President intervened on this very issue and guaranteed that there would be no shortage of financial support for Ukraine. “There is no way we can stop helping Ukraine against Russia’s brutality. “I want to tell Kiev and our European allies that you can count on us,” said Joe Biden, commenting on the law that prevented the shutdown but that provides for the cut in aid to Kiev. “We will not abandon Ukraine,” assured the US President.
The buffer law proposed by McCarthy
The first twist to a chaotic and long day on Capitol Hill came less than 12 hours after the country was paralyzed, when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced after a closed-door meeting with his allies that he was introducing another stopgap bill put to a vote could give another 45 days to reach an agreement on the budget. The measure allows federal agencies’ coffers to continue receiving funds until at least mid-November; provides about $16 billion for emergency management and reconstruction, but cuts aid to Ukraine. “Russia made a mistake, but we need to develop a plan and strategy to help Kiev. And the White House must share it with us,” commented McCarthy, who has accused Biden of issuing “blank checks” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since taking office. This was a fundamental point for Democrats before the vote, one of the reasons why the Republican speaker’s previous buffer bill was overwhelmingly rejected by both parties just two days ago. This time something has changed and it is possible that the president has sent a message to his party’s representatives and senators. Government sources revealed that the White House believes the measure is the best possible under the circumstances because it “maintains the openness of the federal government, provides disaster relief and does not contemplate major cuts to administrative programs.”
USA: Senate passes bill to prevent shutdown
Concerns about the progress of the war in Ukraine
As for support for Ukraine, the source reveals, Biden expects McCarthy to guarantee it through other measures, but there are concerns about the war continuing without American help, particularly in the Pentagon. On Friday evening, on the eve of the vote, Undersecretary of Defense Michael McCord sent a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warning that “the Department has exhausted nearly all available resources to support security. “Ukraine.” It’s clear that Democrats had no desire to take action against over 1.5 million federal workers and over two million American soldiers who risked being left without pay to send money to the Ukrainian front.
“Today the American people win and the MAGA extremists lose,” Jeffries commented after the passage. The vote in favor of the Donkey Party in the House of Representatives was nearly unanimous: 335 representatives, all except Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley. But after that temporary happy ending, it was the Senate that kept the United States on tenterhooks with Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet holding the upper house hostage precisely over cutting funding for Ukraine. In fact, the consent of all hundred senators is required to vote on a bill.