“Shutdown” averted?
US Congress apparently comes to an agreement in the dispute over budget financing
January 14, 2024, 3:02 a.m
Funding for some agencies in the U.S. is nearing its end. Parts of the government could be closed because Republicans and Democrats in Congress have not yet been able to reach an agreement. Now, according to consistent media reports, the impending government shutdown appears to have been averted.
The US Congress has apparently agreed on a transitional law to finance the US budget until March 2024. As the Reuters news agency learned from a person familiar with the matter on Saturday (local time), the congressmen and women agreed on a so-called “Continuing Resolution” (CR), with which the government would be released in two tranches until March 1 and March 8th is to be financed – and this also extends two deadlines. American media such as the online news magazines “Politico” and “Punchbowl” as well as the TV channel CNN had previously reported on Congress’s decision.
According to the US media, the Republicans want to present the plan to the House of Representatives on Sunday evening. A spokesman for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a notice of the agreed transition bill will be posted online on Sunday. A representative for House Speaker Mike Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The interim law would again avert a partial government shutdown as funding for some agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Defense, will expire in the coming weeks. Top Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed on Jan. 7 on more than $1.59 trillion to continue funding the government in the current fiscal year.
However, the next budget deadline is January 19th. If the law is not passed by then, parts of the government would have to be closed. The US was already facing a partial government shutdown last fall because Republicans in the House of Representatives resisted a stopgap bill negotiated by both camps and deposed their former speaker Kevin McCarthy.