US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, October 19, 2023 in Washington (POOL/AFP/JONATHAN ERNST)
Huge figure, huge political bet: Joe Biden is asking Congress for an exceptional envelope of $105.85 billion to help Israel and Ukraine, stand up to China and respond to migrant arrivals at the southern border.
“The world is watching, and the American people rightly expect their leaders to come together to meet these priorities,” said Shalanda Young, White House budget director.
Shortly after, the Republicans once again failed to elect one of their own as head of the House of Representatives, effectively prolonging the paralysis of the entire Congress – which also includes the Senate, with a Democratic majority.
The leader of the Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer, estimated Friday that this request from Joe Biden was “too important to wait for the House to put an end to the chaos”, and promised that his camp would look into the text “very quickly”.
The Democratic president, who in this mess will have to find a political consensus with conservative parliamentarians, is demanding 61.4 billion dollars (of which 30 would be spent on arms) for Ukraine and 14.3 billion (of which 10.6 on arms). ) for Israel.
The leader of the Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer after a meeting on the Israel-Hamas conflict at the Capitol, October 18, 2023 in Washington (AFP/Mandel NGAN)
By linking the two causes, he hopes in a way to twist the arm of the Republican Party, which wants muscular assistance to Israel but whose most right wing contests the continuation of aid to Kiev.
Joe Biden, who on Thursday described America as a “beacon” of democratic aspirations in the world, also wants 7.4 billion to stand up to China, militarily and economically.
The 80-year-old Democrat also estimates that he would need a little more than 9 billion to respond to international humanitarian crises, including in the Gaza Strip.
– Mess –
The American president is also putting pressure on his conservative adversaries by asking for funds – more than 13 billion dollars – to respond through various expenses to the arrival of migrants at the southern border, and to block the arrival at the same place of fentanyl, the substance responsible. thousands of overdose deaths in the United States each year.
Shalanda Young, White House director of budgetary affairs, October 3, 2023 in Washington (Getty/AFP/Archives/Kevin Dietsch)
“We will not accept that those who refuse to act teach us lessons,” said Shalanda Young, in reference to recurring criticism from the right on Joe Biden’s supposed laxity in the face of migrant arrivals at the southern border.
The American president, candidate for re-election, affirmed Thursday, from the very solemn setting of the Oval Office, that the United States would be more secure “for generations” if it supported both Israel and Ukraine.
“We cannot let petty politicians (…) get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation,” the Democrat said again towards the end of his speech, only the second in the Oval Office since his election. .
Joe Biden’s emphasis on the “essential nation” that America would be stands in stark contrast to the unprecedented chaos in Congress.
Trumpist elected official Jim Jordan, candidate for the post of “speaker”, on October 20, 2023 in Washington (AFP/ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)
Due to a lack of leadership in the House of Representatives, the White House had to direct its budget requests to the interim speaker.
Shortly after the publication of Joe Biden’s new demands, Trumpist elected official Jim Jordan failed, for the third time in four days, to take the speaker’s chair, due to opposition from moderate Republican elected officials.
It has now been 17 days since this institution has stopped functioning, since the unprecedented dismissal of the previous boss of the House, Republican Kevin McCarthy.
Congress is therefore incapable of passing any law at a time when the federal state still has no budget for its annual fiscal year, which began on October 1.
If the American Parliament does not adopt a budget before November 17, the country will go straight to “shutdown”, the paralysis of the federal administrations, and the United States’ aid to Ukraine would threaten to run out.
© 2023 AFP
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