The budget dispute is particularly fierce, as the right wing of the Republican Party demands at the same time a reduction in aid to Ukraine.
of the United States wrangling in Congress over next year’s budget and additional funding for the current year threatens to gradually shut down the country’s government starting this weekend. The deadline for the funding decision is at the beginning of October, i.e. early Sunday morning Finnish time.
The US federal budget for next year is almost never completed on time. Government shutdown or the threat of it due to the end of funding is not unusual either. The longest suspension of administration started around Christmas 2018 and lasted 35 days.
The functions that are considered vital are going to be maintained this time too with exceptional arrangements.
If the administration were to be brought down, the national parks would be closed first, and the settlement of student loans would be the next, according to the news agency AFP. Next in line would be at least disruptions in air traffic, when the salaries of air traffic controllers would not be paid.
In progress however, the current budget dispute is particularly fierce, as the right wing of the Republican Party demands a reduction in aid to Ukraine at the same time. An agreement on budget money must be found in both chambers of Congress, i.e. the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has a narrow Democratic majority, the House of Representatives has a Republican majority.
The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives by Kevin McCarthy a last-minute proposal for additional funding fell through on Friday. The Senate, on the other hand, made a motion that would have extended the administration’s funding until November 17. This presentation also included grants from Ukraine.
McCarthy commented message service in X (previously known as Twitter) in the morning Finnish time, that the senate proposal “is stillborn”.
“If Ukraine had been removed from the proposal, we might have gotten it approved,” McCarthy assessed the news channel for CNN.
Grants next Kiel’s Institute of the World Economy according to the counter, by the end of July, the US government had given Ukraine almost 70 billion euros worth of aid. The share of military aid was more than 42 billion euros. In August-September, the United States has granted more than one billion euros in aid.
The fiercest Republicans have threatened to vote McCarthy out of the Speaker’s office unless he agrees to strict budget discipline and cutting aid to Ukraine.
President Joe Biden has not commented much on the controversy but has said that he considers it an internal Republican war. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the president’s position on Friday.
“The discussions must take place between Speaker McCarthy and his own group,” Jean-Pierre said, according to AFP.
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