DThe American Congress has averted a partial shutdown of government business in the USA. On Friday evening (local time), after the House of Representatives, the Senate also passed a law that ensures the financing of a number of ministries and federal agencies for the rest of the financial year – i.e. until the end of September. The package is worth more than 467 billion US dollars (around 427 billion euros). Otherwise there would have been a so-called shutdown on Saturday night (local time), in which parts of the government would have run out of money.
US President Joe Biden still has to sign the law, but this is considered a formality. However, the deadline for a further legislative package to be passed that would finance the remaining government business expires on March 22nd – most recently there had only been agreements in Congress on short-term solutions. The outstanding funding includes the US Department of Defense and the State Department, among others.
Future of Ukraine aid remains unclear
The political wrangling over the budget is quite common in the USA. It happens regularly that Congress first makes do with passing an interim budget and then a few months later argues again about the financing of government operations. As now, an agreement is usually only reached very close to the deadline.
The future of new financial aid from the USA for other countries such as Ukraine is still unclear. Biden had requested a large billion-dollar package for Kiev from Congress months ago. However, some Republicans are skeptical or reject support for Ukraine attacked by Russia. The domestic political blockade has been preventing the delivery of military supplies from the USA to Kiev for some time.
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