US Congress avoids government shutdown in last-minute deal
The US Congress has passed a temporary funding bill to keep the federal government running until mid-November and avert a costly government shutdown by leaving out aid to war-torn Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden.
Notably absent from this funding package was the requested aid for war-torn Ukraine, a proposal put forth by President Biden. With mere minutes remaining before the midnight deadline, President Joe Biden swiftly signed the funding bill into law.
The House of Representatives convened late on Saturday and voted resoundingly in favor of extending government funding for an additional 45 days. The final tally stood at 335 votes in favor to 91 against, with 209 Democrats supporting the measure and 126 Republicans lending their support.
Following this decisive vote in the House, the Democratic-majority Senate also rallied behind the funding extension. Their vote, which came just three hours before the midnight Saturday deadline, saw a decisive 88-9 majority in favor of the measure. This collaborative effort successfully averted what would have marked the federal government's fourth partial shutdown in the past decade.
This eleventh-hour agreement represents a dramatic turnaround from earlier in the week when a government shutdown seemed all but certain. Such an event would have necessitated the closure of a broad spectrum of public services and, more alarmingly, would have left a significant portion of the government's 4 million employees without pay.
Thanks to this crucial vote, government operations are now funded until November 17. Additionally, the funding bill allocates an extra 16 billion dollar in federal disaster assistance, bolstering the nation's ability to respond to unforeseen emergencies.
In response to the successful passage of the funding bill, President Biden expressed his satisfaction and remarked, "Tonight, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate voted to keep the government open, preventing an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted needless pain on millions of hardworking Americans." This achievement is being hailed as good news for the American people, highlighting the ability of lawmakers to come together and prioritize the nation's stability.
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