luc, CNBC Indonesia
Friday, 09/29/2023 06:05 IWST
Foto: Getty Images via AFP/SCOTT OLSON
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The turmoil over the United States (US) budget threatens to close Uncle Sam’s government (shutdown) is getting hotter. The Democratic-led Senate’s proposal to pass a temporary funding bill is inconsistent with Republican intentions.
The differences in views between the two parties appear to raise the possibility that federal agencies will run out of funding on Sunday, lay off hundreds of thousands of federal workers and cut services ranging from economic data releases to nutritional benefits.
The Senate voted 76-22 to open debate on a temporary bill known as a continuing resolution, or CR, that would extend federal spending through Nov. 17, and authorize about $6 billion each in domestic disaster response funding. and assistance to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.
The Senate decision has been rejected by Republicans, who control the House of Representatives.
The House is planning late-night votes on four partisan appropriations bills that would not only prevent a government shutdown, even if the bills can overcome strong opposition from Democrats and become law.
House Republicans, led by a small faction of hardline conservatives in a chamber they control by a 221-212 margin, have rejected spending levels for the 2024 fiscal year set in a deal that Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated with Biden in May.
The agreement includes $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal year 2024. House Republicans are demanding another $120 billion in cuts, plus stricter laws that would stop the flow of immigrants at the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
The funding fight focuses on a small portion of the US$6.4 trillion US budget for this fiscal year. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare.
McCarthy faced intense pressure from his caucus to achieve their goals. Some hardliners have threatened to remove him from his leadership role if he passes the state spending bill.
Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump used social media to encourage his allies in Congress to implement a government shutdown.
McCarthy said Thursday that a government shutdown could be avoided if Senate Democrats agreed to address the border issue as their stopgap measure.
“I spoke this morning with some Democratic senators there who are more in line with what we want to do. They want to do something about the border,” McCarthy told reporters at the US Capitol, quoted ReutersFriday (29/10/2023).
“We’re trying to see if we can get some border provisions into the current Senate bill that would actually make things better,” he said.
The Only Option
The Senate measure cleared two procedural hurdles this week with strong bipartisan support.
“Congress has only one option — one option — to avoid a government shutdown: bipartisanship,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday.
“With bipartisanship, we can fund the government responsibly and avoid the unnecessary harm to the American people and the economy from a government shutdown.”
Without a bipartisan agreement between senators to speed up the parliamentary process, the Senate is unlikely to take interim action until after the government shuts down.
Credit agencies have warned that the conditions are hurting the US financial outlook. Moody’s, the last ratings agency to give the US government an “Aaa” rating with a stable outlook, said Monday that a government shutdown would hurt the country’s credit rating.
Fitch, another major ratings agency, has downgraded the US government to “AA+” after Congress attempted to default on the nation’s debt earlier this year.
Most members of Congress – including many Senate Republicans – rejected attempts by House Republicans to make the situation on the border with Mexico the focus of the shutdown.
“We can take the standard approach and fund the government for six weeks at the current operating rate, or we can shut down the government in exchange for no meaningful progress on the policy,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday.
The House is expected to vote Friday on its own short-term funding measure. The continuing success of the resolution could depend on whether House Republicans can pass fiscal 2024 spending bills for homeland security, defense, agriculture and State Department operations in a voting session that is expected to end after midnight on Monday. Thursday.
Three of the bills — defense, foreign operations and agriculture — are opposed by some Republicans.
Watch the video below:
US Threatened with Shutdown Due to Budget Debate in Congress
(luc/luc)
2023-09-28 23:05:00
#Seconds #Runs #Money #Country #Threatened #Chaos
