The United States avoided the paralysis of its federal administration at the last minute, with the adoption by the Senate, just three hours before “shutdown”, an emergency measure to temporarily continue its financing.
The emergency measure adopted by the US Congress provides that the US administration continues to be funded for 45 days. However, it excludes aid to Ukraine at war requested by the White House.
In a final attempt to avoid the paralysis of the American administration, the resolution proposed at the last minute by the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, was adopted by the House before being validated by the Senate just three hours from “shutdown”, which would have put civil servants on technical unemployment and cut food aid to certain beneficiaries.
Adopted with 335 yes (91 no) in the House, the text was then approved by 88 senators against 9.
Tonight, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate voted to keep the government open, avoiding an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted unnecessary suffering on millions of hardworking Americans.
Joe Biden, American president
But he immediately called on Congress to quickly approve aid to Ukraine that was excluded from the emergency funding measure.
“I expect the President of Congress to uphold his commitment to the Ukrainian people and ensure the adoption of the support necessary to help Ukraine at this critical time”Joe Biden said in a statement, referring to Kevin McCarthy.
Hundreds of thousands of American officials held their breath as the deadline approached (midnight Saturday night, i.e. 04:00 GMT Sunday), because neither chamber of Congress nor the Senate was in the hands of the Democrats. , nor the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, had reached agreement on a finance law to extend the federal state budget.
If Mr. McCarthy’s measure had not been adopted, the world’s largest economy would have slowed down on Sunday: 1.5 million civil servants would have lost pay and air traffic would have been disrupted, while visitors to national parks would have found the door closed.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters, at the Capitol in Washington, September 29, 2023. @AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite.
Saturday’s vote is “u“a victory for the American people, and a complete defeat for right-wing extremists.” welcomed the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries.
Separate project on Ukraine
Aid to Ukraine, a stumbling block between Democrats and many Republicans, is largely absent from the text.
Lawmakers must now consider a separate bill for $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which Joe Biden wanted to see included in the budget. A vote could take place early next week, according to American media.
The White House had initially demanded that the budget law include this $24 billion in aid.
“What Russia did is wrong. But I think whatever we do, we need to define what victory means and what the plan should be.”Mr. 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, in allusion to what the Republicans describe as “migrant crisis in the United States”.
A handful of Trumpist Republican elected officials refuse to release any new aid to kyiv, believing that these funds should be allocated to managing the migration crisis.
These lieutenants of Donald Trump, who have disproportionate power due to the very small Republican majority in the House, were ordered by the former president, who could face Joe Biden in 2024, to “paralyze” the federal state unless it wins its case on “all” budgetary files under debate.
Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States had experienced its longest “shutdown”, during the winter of 2018/2019. According to several estimates, the country’s GDP was then cut by more than 3 billion dollars.
2023-10-01 03:23:00
#United #States #shutdown #narrowly #avoided #emergency #measure
