Shutdown averted?: US Congress appears to approve budget transition bill

Was a lockdown avoided?
It appears that the US Congress has approved the budget transition bill

January 14, 2024, 3:02 am

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The budget in the United States is once again at a dead end, and the funding of some authorities in the United States is at risk. But Republicans and Democrats now appear to be finding a solution to avoid the impending shutdown.

The US Congress appears to have approved a transitional law to fund the US budget until March 2024. According to a person familiar with the matter, Congress has approved a so-called continuing resolution that will fund the government in two tranches until March 1 and March 8 – thus also extending Two deadlines. American media such as online news magazines Politico and Punchbowl, as well as CNN, had previously published a report on Congress' decision.

According to American media, Republicans want to present the plan to the House of Representatives on Sunday evening. A spokesman for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that a notice of the agreed-upon transition bill would be posted online on Sunday. A representative for House Speaker Mike Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.

The temporary law would once again avoid a partial government shutdown as funding for some agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Defense, would end in the coming weeks. Top Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed on January 7 to more than $1.59 trillion to continue funding the government in the current fiscal year.

However, the next budget deadline is January 19. If the law is not passed by then, parts of the government will have to shut down. The United States was already facing a partial government shutdown last fall because House Republicans resisted a temporary bill negotiated by both camps and impeached their former president, Kevin McCarthy.