02/29/2024 – 17:11
Congressmen from the United States House of Representatives approved this Thursday, the 29th, a temporary spending law, in order to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend. The president of the House, Republican Mike Johnson, was forced to turn to a coalition made up largely of Democrats to approve the measure, by 320 to 99.
This is the third legislation of its kind approved during Johnson's time under the Chamber's command. With this, legislators gain more time to approve laws for the entire year next month, under a structure agreed with the Democrats for this debate. Johnson had to bypass normal procedures, taking the text to a vote with a special approach that requires a two-thirds supermajority, not a simple majority.
The proposal now heads to the Senate, where Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he hopes his colleagues can approve it perhaps as soon as Thursday night.
Johnson and other Congressional leaders stated that a short-term extension of spending would be necessary, until March 8, to give adequate time to legislate on the first six bills on the topic, with the prospect of finishing negotiations on the other laws until March 22nd. Leaders said fiscal year 2024 spending levels in those bills would have to adhere to the bipartisan agreement reached last year, tied to a deal to raise the federal government's debt ceiling.
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