Both houses of the US Congress reached an agreement on the funding of the government in 2024., AP announced.
This was revealed by US President Joe Biden. According to him, this brings the country closer to the prevention of work stoppage and to the protection of national priorities.
The deal was also confirmed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, NBC News reported.
The agreement sets the total spending level at $1.59 trillion in fiscal year 2024. This includes $886 billion in defense spending and $704 billion in civilian spending, the broadcaster noted.
Biden blamed far-right Republicans for the eventual shutdown
A new crisis for the White House
CNN notes that the deal is the first step toward preventing a shutdown ahead of two deadlines — Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 — when funding for US government agencies will run out. At the same time, the final deal could face a roadblock in Congress as some Republicans insist the spending bill be used as leverage to push for tougher immigration and border security requirements, the TV channel said.
Biden stated that the deal does not include deep program cuts, designed to help Americans, and paves the way for passage of the annual funding bills. He also said that now Republicans must “do their job, stop threatening a shutdown, and follow through on their commitment to fund critical domestic national security priorities.” “It’s time for them to act,” concluded the American president.
Johnson noted in a letter to colleagues that the level of spending in the agreement does not satisfy everyone and does not include cuts, as many among Republicans would like, NBC reported. At the same time, he said the deal would allow for movement on several fronts, including moving the 2024 spending reconciliation process forward and shifting funding priorities toward conservative goals instead of last year’s Democratic plan.
The White House is seeking short-term funding to avoid a shutdown
If no action is taken before the beginning of the next fiscal year on October 1
Among the Democratic concessions, Johnson pointed to a $10 billion spending cut in the inflation-reduction bill and a $6.1 billion reduction in the amount of funds left over by the Biden administration from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November 2023, the US passed a law to temporarily fund the work of the federal government. Some agencies were given a deadline of January 19, while others were given until February 2. This budget did not include aid for Israel and Ukraine, for which Biden requested a total of $75 billion.
On September 30, Biden already managed to avoid a government shutdown by approving a temporary budget for 45 days. Aid to Ukraine was also not included in it then, and the war between Israel and Hamas had not yet begun.
President Biden previously asked Congress to immediately allocate $106 billion, more than half of which would go to Ukraine and the rest to Israel, Taiwan and to protect the border with Mexico.
Additionally, the Biden administration is seeking to tie aid to Israel and Ukraine into one piece of legislation, rather than separately. However, this resulted in the bill not being passed, passing aid only to Israel instead. However, this bill was not voted on at all in the Senate, where the Democrats have a majority.
We remind you that the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Trump supporter Mike Johnson, said even after his election that he would first like to provide emergency aid to Israel and discuss Ukraine separately.
2024-01-07 22:08:15
#gift #CNG #Congress #averted #shutdown
