The leading Democrats and Republicans in the United States Congress reached a spending agreement for $1.59 trillion this Sunday, January 7. However, deeply divided legislators from both parties have until January 19 to approve the laws by which state money will be managed and thus avoid a government shutdown.
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Since early last year, the House and Senate appropriations committees had been unable to reach agreement on the 12 annual bills needed to fund the government for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 due to disagreements. on the total amount of money to spend.
When lawmakers return from a holiday recess Monday, those panels will begin intensive negotiations over how much various U.S. agencies, from the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation to Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, can spend in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 1. .
They face a Jan. 19 deadline for the first set of bills to advance through Congress and a Feb. 2 deadline for the rest of them.
There were already some disagreements between the two sides about what they had agreed to. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement that the total figure includes $886 billion for defense and $704 billion for non-defense spending. But Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a separate statement, said the non-defense spending figure will be $772.7 billion.
Last month, Congress authorized $886 billion for the Defense Department this fiscal year, which Democratic President Joe Biden signed into law. Lawmakers will now also fill in details on how that sum will be distributed.
The non-defense discretionary funds will “protect key national priorities like veterans benefits, health care and nutrition assistance” from cuts called for by some Republicans, Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. joint.
Last spring, Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a deal on $1.59 trillion in fiscal 2024 spending, along with increased borrowing to avoid a historic debt default. US.
Biden shows his support for the pact
The country's president said Sunday that the agreement brings the United States one step closer to “avoiding an unnecessary government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.” “It reflects the funding levels I negotiated with both sides,” Biden said in a statement after the deal was announced.
For his part, the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said he was encouraged by the agreement. “The United States faces serious national security challenges and Congress must act quickly to deliver the year-round resources that this moment requires,” he said on the social network X.
However, the agreement must be approved by both Houses of Congress. Hardline House Republicans have threatened to block the spending plan unless Democrats agree to restrict the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Unless both Houses of Congress (the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-majority Senate) manage to pass the 12 bills needed to fully fund the Government, the money will expire on January 19 for federal programs involving transportation, housing , agriculture, energy, veterans and military construction.
Funding for other areas of government, including defense, will continue until February 2.
Reuters
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