US lockdown averted
The US Senate and Congress have given the green light for temporary funding. President Biden must still sign the law.
With this decision, Parliament has bought itself until the beginning of March.
Photo: Michael Reynolds
The US Congress succeeded in avoiding the partial government shutdown scenario that the economy and financial markets feared. On Thursday, the House of Representatives was the second parliamentary chamber to approve the transitional law for temporary financing of the government budget, which had previously been approved by the Senate. “We have good news for America. “There will be no gridlock on Friday,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday. This gave Parliament until the beginning of March. The House originally did not want to vote on it until later Friday. However, voting was hastened by an expected snowstorm.
The bill now goes before President Joe Biden, who must still sign it. With his signature, the risk of a so-called “government shutdown” has been averted for the time being. In this scenario, many state employees would have to go on mandatory unpaid leave. Offices, museums and national parks will be temporarily closed.
At the beginning of January, top Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed on interim funding of about $1.59 trillion. $ Notified by March. The “Continuing Resolution” (CR) aims to finance the government in two tranches until March 1 and 8. But there is still disagreement in the political camps about the exact amount and how it should be distributed among individual government authorities.
The conflict between Republicans and Democrats over funding occurred against the backdrop of a national debt of $34.4 trillion. $ instead. This makes some politicians increasingly concerned about the high interest burden. Republicans are calling for deep spending cuts.
Reuters
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