- The Senate approves the budget for 2023.
- This has a total volume of 1.7 trillion US dollars.
- The House of Representatives will discuss the budget on Friday.
Legend:
The US Capitol before sunrise on December 14, 2022.
Keystone/J. Scott Applewhite
The Senate approved the package on Thursday afternoon (local time). Half of the equivalent of almost 1.6 trillion Swiss francs is spent on defense. The aid money to Ukraine also finds its place in the budget. Almost 42 billion are earmarked for support to Ukraine. This money includes both humanitarian and military aid. The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy campaigned for the approval of the US Congress with a speech on site.
Passing the budget bill would be a major achievement for US President Joe Biden. The budget provides for greater support for Ukraine than Biden had even asked for from Congress.
The package also includes electoral law reforms in response to the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol. The vice president is now explicitly not authorized to annul the results of a presidential election. After Biden’s election, Mike Pence declined to formally confirm the result.
Avoid the «shutdown» horror scenario
In 2018, the US could not agree on a budget. There was a shutdown, which means that some administrations were left without financial resources and had to be temporarily closed. In theory, this horror scenario is still looming.
If the House of Representatives refused to approve the budget, there could be a shutdown at the beginning of next year. The deadline for adopting the budget expires at midnight on Friday. However, it cannot be assumed that the deadline will expire, because the approval of the House of Representatives is considered certain.