United States: “shutdown” averted at the last minute

Thanks to the passage of an emergency measure by the Senate, the United States avoided a last-minute paralysis of its federal administration. The emergency measure, which was adopted by the US Congress just three hours before the “shutdown”, foresees the continuation of funding for the US administration for 45 days. However, it rules out aid to Ukraine in the war requested by the White House.

The resolution, proposed at the last minute by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, was passed by the House before being confirmed by the Senate. 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 cause unnecessary suffering to millions of hard-working Americans“, greeted President Joe Biden in a press release.

But he immediately urged Congress to quickly approve aid to Ukraine, which was excluded from the emergency funding measure. “I expect the President of Congress to maintain his commitment to the Ukrainian people and ensure that the support necessary to help Ukraine at this critical time is passed.“, Biden said in a statement, referring to Kevin McCarthy.

Hundreds of thousands of US officials held their breath as the deadline approached (midnight Saturday night, ie 04:00 GMT Sunday), as neither the House of Congress nor the Senate is in Democrat hands, nor is the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. – reached an agreement on the finance bill to extend the federal state budget.

Yes measure Mr. Had McCarthy not been adopted, the world’s largest economy would have slowed on Sunday: 1.5 million government workers would have gone without pay, air traffic would have been disrupted, and visitors to national parks would have faced closed doors.

A separate project on Ukraine

Aid to Ukraine, a sticking point 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 Mr. Biden wanted to see in the budget. The vote could be held early next week, according to American media.

The White House originally requested that the budget bill include this $24 billion in aid. “I think there’s a real frustration across America that this president is ignoring the borders of the United States and is more concerned about somewhere else.” Mr. McCarthy told reporters, referring to what Republicans call “the migrant crisis in the United States“.

Several Trumpist Republican elected officials are refusing to release new aid to Kiev, believing the funds should be allocated to managing the migrant crisis. With disproportionate power due to a very small Republican majority in the House of Representatives, they received orders from the former president, who may face Joe Biden in 2024, to “to paralyze» federal state unless it wins a dispute on »everything» budget files discussed.

Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States experienced the longest “gatdown”, during the winter of 2018/2019. According to several estimates, the country’s GDP was then reduced by more than 3 billion dollars.