Finally, Republicans have failed to include the repeal of the debt ceiling.
The United States Senate on Saturday, with the support of Republicans and Democrats, approved the extension of the federal budget, which keeps the government open and which arrived on Saturday outside the original deadline of 00:01 local time.
The House of Representatives had approved the budget extension on Friday by 366 votes to 34, and the Senate’s approval by 85 votes to 11 took place about 40 minutes after midnight.
After receiving approval from the House of Lords, the text was sent to the White House so that the president, Joe Biden, could promulgate it with his signature.
In fact, the White House had already announced after midnight that it would not implement preparations for the partial shutdown of the executive branch due to high confidence that Congress would quickly approve the relevant allocations.
A federal government shutdown could have been avoided hundreds of thousands of civil servants without salary, and the country’s main agencies operating under minimal service provision.
The extension of the funds, which will provide the government with funding until March 14 next year, is the second to be put to a vote in the House of Representatives after President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday torpedoed an agreement they had already made. closed the Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
Trump and his right-hand man Elon Musk They forced Republican members of Congress to break the pact and put to vote a unilateral proposal that included demands such as abolishing the debt ceiling, which sets a limit on the government’s debt burden.
That proposal failed in the House of Representatives due to opposition from Democrats and some Republicans.
After a robust debate within the party, the chairman of that chamber, Republican Mike Johnson, presented a similar text on Friday that excluded the debt ceiling and which was also not negotiated with the Democrats, but who voted in favor to prevent the closure of the government.
The proposal extends the federal budget until March 14, 2025when Trump will already be in power (the inauguration is on January 20) and includes 100,000 million dollars for the prevention of natural disasters, and 10,000 million for support to farmers.
Although TTrump has failed to achieve his goal of abolishing the debt ceilingthe issue will likely be raised again when funds run out in March. By then, the new legislative session will have begun, with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress.
Since 1976, the year new budget laws were passed, the U.S. government has run out of money 20 times, though most of those were for just one day.
The longest closure, 35 daystook place during Trump’s first term (2017-2021), just before Christmas 2018, due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over the financing of the wall that the Republican wanted to build on the border with Mexico.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
