By EFE
Sep 26, 2023, 7:36 PM EDT
Democratic and Republican leaders of the United States Senate proposed this Tuesday a plan to finance the Government until mid-November, which would avoid its closure starting next week, when the available funds are expected to run out.
The proposal, which is expected to pass its first parliamentary process in the Upper House, with a progressive majority, will also need the support of the Lower House, controlled by the conservatives. There, a group of fractious Republican congressmen is reluctant to accept a short-term solution to funding federal agencies.
The Senate measure includes $6 billion for Ukraine and another $6 billion to fund environmental emergency response services.
The resolution would serve to keep the Government in operation at least until November 17. Both House Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell defended the proposal and called on members of their respective parties to support it.
“It is a bridge towards cooperation and against extremism. “I encourage patriotic and reasonable members of both chambers to come together to pass this resolution,” Schumer said on the floor.
If the public administration runs out of funds after September 30, the end of the current fiscal year, most government agencies, museums and national parks will close their doors, while hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be temporarily out of work and without pay, which could end up having an impact on the economy.
The situation is at a stalemate and the White House has already asked federal agencies to make the necessary preparations to close the shutdown.
All eyes are on the president of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, who has tried to persuade the most radical wing of his party to approve a resolution that finances the Government in the short term and prevents it from running out of funds.
However, those closest to former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), united under the umbrella of the “Freedom Caucus”, have opposed it.
Its goal is to undo an agreement reached in June between US President Joe Biden and McCarthy, through which Congress suspended the country’s debt limit in exchange for the White House agreeing to specific limits on government spending.
The “Freedom Caucus” did not like that pact and want more cuts. Specifically, they seek to establish a public spending limit of $1.47 trillion for fiscal year 2024, which represents $120 billion more in cuts than agreed.
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