This Thursday, for the third time since October, the US Congress avoided the partial closure of the Administration, which threatened to come this Friday if a legislative agreement was not reached beforehand. The Democrats and moderate Republicans have overcome the opposition of the most conservative wing and have approved a new extension in the Senate (with 77 votes in favor and 18 against) and the House of Representatives (314 to 108), which will allow continued financing of the government until March 1.
The agreement, waiting to be ratified by President Joe Biden, must be finalized in the coming weeks in a dozen budget laws (the US does not have a single spending law, but twelve). "There will be no shutdown on Friday," celebrated the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer: "both parties have worked together to keep the government open. Basic services will not be interrupted. We will avoid an unnecessary disaster."
Half of the Republicans in the Lower House (106 of the total of 213) have voted against the extension. Led by the Freedom Caucus – the ultra-conservative Republican group that organized a plot against the then president of the House, Kevin McCarthy, last October – opponents allege that these types of extensions give the Biden government air to continue spending above that they would like.
Legislators now have six weeks to negotiate the twelve spending laws, which must not exceed the ceiling negotiated ten days ago, of 1.66 trillion dollars for fiscal year 2024, which began on October 1. The approval of a similar extension motivated the hard-line Republican boycott against McCarthy. Since then, his successor, Mike Johnson, has managed to survive two new extensions.
"Johnson should reverse course and pass a budget package that significantly reduces spending and secures our southern border," the Freedom Caucus said in a statement. Its leader, Congressman Bob Good, lamented that Republicans are not using their influence in Congress: "We have a majority in half of the legislative branch. When will that start to matter?"
This Friday, Biden invited the Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, Johnson and Schumer, as well as the leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, and the head of the Democrats in the Lower House, Hakeem Jeffries, to the White House this Friday. . He tried to negotiate with them the approval of additional aid to Ukraine of 64 billion dollars.
The president intends to link this aid to that of Israel (14 billion) and the border with Mexico (6 billion), something with which the Republicans do not agree. Conservatives are pushing for an immigration agreement that toughens border policy and curbs irregular immigration, which has reached record levels during the Biden Administration.
For now, the extension approved this Thursday will allow continued financing of items for the agricultural sector, veterans programs, transportation and housing, among others, until March 1. The scheduled date for the closure of the rest of the Administration, including the Pentagon, is March 8.
