A few hours before the gong, scheduled for midnight, the American senators validated, Friday March 7, an agreement on the budget, thus avoiding the partial paralysis of the federal administration. An envelope of 467.5 billion dollars (approximately 425 billion euros) was approved by 75 votes to 22, despite the disagreement of several Republicans around certain expenditures.
This green light, which includes half of the twelve laws to be adopted for the year 2024, allows a whole range of agencies and ministries to continue to operate, such as agriculture, commerce, justice, science, environment, housing and transport, until the end of the financial year, September 30. Without this last-minute agreement, these administrations would have been shut down in what the United States calls a shutdown.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer welcomed a ” big step “ towards the adoption of a complete budget for the year 2024. “To those who fear that divided governance means nothing ever gets done, this bipartisan package says otherwise: it helps parents, veterans, firefighters, farmers, school lunches and more”he added.
“Stop playing with fire”
The bill had already been adopted on Wednesday by the House of Representatives, the most critical step because elected officials from the most right-wing fringe of Republicans, close to Donald Trump, had so far succeeded in blocking the process. Conservatives considered certain spending excessive, among other things, citing for example $1 million for an environmental justice center in New York, $4 million for a waterfront promenade in New Jersey and $3.5 million for a Thanksgiving parade in Michigan.
“American taxpayers should not be used as a political piggy bank”said Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott.
“I urge my colleagues to stop playing with fire, said, for her part, Republican Senator from Maine Susan Collins, member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. It would be irresponsible of us not to approve these bills and not do the fundamental work we have in funding the government. »
Series of mini-laws
The package also includes budget reductions of up to 10% for certain federal agencies that are in the crosshairs of Republicans, such as the FBI or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The budget “imposes heavy cuts” to these agencies, “who, under the Biden administration, have threatened our freedoms and our economy”declared the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson.
The other half of the budget, which includes sensitive subjects, such as the army or border security, was postponed in a second envelope which must reach President Joe Biden’s desk by March 22.
Until now, budgetary paralysis has been avoided, but each time at the last minute. To compensate for the lack of an agreement on an annual budget, Congress had to operate through a series of mini-laws to extend the budget by a few days, weeks or months.