by David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, unveiled on Saturday a measure aimed at avoiding a partial shutdown of US federal administrations (“shutdown”) before the November 17 deadline.
The measure presented by the speaker of the House provides for the financing of certain parts of the government until January 19 and others until February 2.
It does not provide additional funds such as financial aid to Ukraine or Israel.
House Republicans hope to see the measure passed Tuesday.
The House of Representatives, where the Republicans have a narrow majority, and the Senate, with a Democratic majority, must agree on a budget text so that American President Joe Biden can ratify it by Friday.
If they did not succeed, it would be the fourth time in ten years that a “shutdown” would take place.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the text proposed by Mike Johnson was “a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns.”
“House Republicans are wasting valuable time with a sketchy proposal that has been criticized by members of both parties.”
Mike Johnson presented this text as the rating agency Moody’s lowered its outlook on the United States’ credit rating on Friday, estimating that “political polarization in Congress raises the risk that successive governments will not be able to reach consensus on a budget plan.
The measure would extend funding for military construction, veterans’ benefits, transportation, housing, urban development, agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and energy and water programs until January 19. Funding for all other federal operations would expire on February 2.
(With contribution Timothy Gardner; French version Camille Raynaud)
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