The US Senate passed a trillion-dollar budget package at the last minute. Voting started late Friday evening (local time), just before the deadline, one minute after midnight, and ended early Saturday morning. Until recently, it was unclear whether there would be a partial standstill of the government company – a so-called shutdown.
Theoretically, this was the case for a short time, as the deadline passed before voting ended. However, this had no actual effect.
US President Joe Biden has yet to sign the law – this is considered a formality. The White House announced that evening that it expected this to happen on Saturday.
74 senators voted in favor of the package
The budget package was approved by the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon with a cross-party majority. The fact that a Senate vote only recently took place was not due to the lack of a majority, but rather to parliamentary tactics by Republican senators. Ultimately, a total of 74 senators voted in favor of the package and 24 against.
The impact of a shutdown would initially have been minimal over the weekend, as most affected government employees are already off work.
The now adopted budget package of 1.2 trillion dollars (approximately 1.1 trillion euros) will finance a large part of the US government’s activities for the current budget year, which runs until the end of September.
It includes funds for Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor, but does not include new U.S. financial aid to other countries such as Ukraine. A corresponding legislative package is currently in the House of Representatives.
Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement on the budget package early this week, after an initial, smaller package had already been adopted. As a rule, Congress agrees on a large overall package to finance government operations. But the budget was divided. The second part was still waiting. Together, the two packages now amount to $1.66 trillion.
The arguments about this had been going on for months. In the meantime, Congress has passed several interim budgets.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
