On Saturday (Sept 30), the US Congress passed the government funding bill at the eleventh hour, ensuring that federal agencies continue to operate for the next 45 days and averting a costly shutdown. However, the agreement did not include President Joe Biden’s proposal for help to war-torn Ukraine.
While the Senate, dominated by Democrats by one seat, attempted a bipartisan strategy to keep the government afloat, Republicans were adamant that their demands be satisfied. The government shutdown will have an impact on air travel, national parks, and marriage licenses.
With three hours to go before the midnight Saturday deadline, the Senate approved a measure passed earlier by the House of Representatives to extend government financing through mid-November.
President Joe Biden urged Congress to quickly approve Ukraine money
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proposed the last-ditch “continuing resolution” as government functions ranging from federal policymaking to military operations to food aid were on the edge of being disrupted and the future of millions of government employees remained uncertain.
Welcoming the accord that prevented a government shutdown on Saturday (Sept 30), US President Joe Biden urged Congress to quickly approve Ukraine money that was not included in the agreement.
“Tonight, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate voted to keep the government open, preventing an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted needless pain on millions of hardworking Americans,” said Biden, in a statement.
“We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted. I fully expect the Speaker will keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment,” he said while speaking about Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy.
The shutdown situation was precipitated by hardline Republicans
US lawmakers should now work on a separate package that will provide Ukraine with the $24 billion in military assistance that Biden was seeking in the budget, with a vote scheduled for early next week.
The shutdown situation was precipitated by hardline Republicans who disregarded their own party leadership and continued to demand severe expenditure cuts while rejecting interim financing alternatives.
The group of 21 hardliners had threatened to depose McCarthy as speaker if the House passed a stopgap measure they disliked with Democratic support.