Washington [US], January 19: The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to temporarily fund the federal government through early March and prevent a partial government shutdown, sending the bill to President Joe Biden for approval.
The temporary budget bill was passed by the US House of Representatives on January 18 with a ratio of 314 votes in favor and 108 votes against, with 106 Republican lawmakers and 2 Democratic lawmakers opposed, according to Reuters. Earlier in the day, the Senate easily passed the bill before the weekend deadline, with a vote of 77-18.
"We have good news for America. There will be no shutdown on Friday (January 19)," Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a member of the Democratic Party, said just before the vote. . Meanwhile, some far-right Republican congressmen expressed opposition.
Both chambers accelerated voting because of forecasts of a snowstorm on January 19, which could affect lawmakers' travel schedules over the weekend.
The bill is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden on January 18 (US time) to prevent the government from closing before the deadline. The third temporary bill that was just passed only helps extend the spending level as in the previous fiscal year to two dates, March 1 and March 8.
The Democratic-dominated Senate and the Republican-controlled House have gone nowhere in fulfilling the basic obligation of passing a government budget for the fiscal year that began on October 1. 2023, with lawmakers trying to stay afloat so they have more time to pass 12 bills for the entire year.
Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Mike Johnson in January agreed to $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024. However, in a sign of the bitterly divided parliament, the two parties now disagree on that. The Democratic Party said the actual amount agreed was 1,660 billion USD.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
