A few hours before the impending shutdown in the USA, the House of Representatives votes for an interim budget. However, the Senate still has to agree.
New turn in the shutdown drama in the USA: The House of Representatives voted on Saturday for a 45-day bridging budget. The Democrats grudgingly supported the Republican bill, which does not contain any aid to Ukraine. 335 members voted for the draft introduced by the Republican leader of the House, Kevin McCarthy, and 91 voted no. With the vote in the House of Representatives for the interim budget, there is a chance that government business can be prevented from coming to a standstill at the last moment.
The Republicans have a narrow majority in the Congressional Chamber, but were dependent on votes from the Democrats due to a special rule. Now the Senate has to vote on the text. US President Joe Biden’s Democrats have the majority there. The Senate had prepared a vote for Saturday on its own draft to avert the so-called shutdown. This draft contains further aid for Ukraine, which the Democrats are demanding from US President Joe Biden.
Interim budget only postpones budget dispute
The term of the budget approved by the US Congress at the end of last year ends on Sunday night. By then, a new federal budget or a transitional budget would have to be decided in order to avert insolvency. If Biden’s Democrats and the opposition Republicans do not reach an agreement at the last minute, the shutdown will come into force at midnight (local time, 6 a.m. CEST). A shutdown means millions of government employees will no longer receive a salary.
Most recently, the deeply divided Republicans in the House of Representatives had torn each other apart in the dispute over a new budget and in the process exposed the chairman of the chamber, Kevin McCarthy. The Republican McCarthy surprisingly presented the transition financing on Saturday morning (local time) and put the Democrats under pressure. They were faced with the question: government standstill or no aid to Ukraine? McCarthy was pushed ahead of himself by the radicals in his faction.
The compromise proposal could secure funding for federal agencies through November 17th. This would buy time for further budget negotiations. If the new interim budget passes the Senate, the dispute over a federal budget will start all over again in a few weeks.
Note: This article has been updated.
Source: Stern

I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.