The “resolution” prevents millions of public workers from being sent home unpaid in the middle of the Christmas season, as parks, museums and other federal properties and services would be forced to close.
“I am glad that, in the end, the cooler heads prevailed: the government will remain open,” celebrated Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, quoted by the AFP agency.
“And I thank the members of this chamber for joining us when we were on the brink of an avoidable, unnecessary and costly closure,” he added.
Congressional analysts had expected the resolution to take a tortuous path in the Senate, where a small group of hardline Republicans threatened to halt the measure in protest of measures imposed by the White House to slow the advance of the coronavirus.
The urgency to avoid the “shutdown” ran in parallel with other issues that congressmen will have to resolve in the coming days.
In addition to the budget law, legislators must agree to defense budget funds, an area in which consensus is a long way off.
But even more urgently, between now and December 15 they must raise or suspend the debt limit of the United States if they want to avoid the first sovereign default in the history of the world’s largest economy.
Without an agreement on this point, the United States could run out of money to honor its debts, a potentially catastrophic situation for the markets.
If Congress manages to resolve all of these issues on time, it could then address Biden’s massive $ 1.75 trillion social and environmental investment plan.
The plan, which provides free childcare for all children and investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country, has been locked in the drawers of Congress for months.
Biden is counting on these measures, popular with Americans, to reinvigorate his presidency as his popularity falls.
Source From: Ambito
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