US President Joe Biden approved an emergency funding measure on Saturday night, averting a 45-day government shutdown at the last minute.
The head of state signed the law approximately half an hour before the limit established by the North American Constitution, which would cause a government shutdown, which would have started at midnight (5:00 a.m. in Lisbon).
In a statement, Biden stressed that “an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted unnecessary pain on millions of American workers” was avoided.
“This bill ensures that active-duty troops will continue to be paid, that travelers will avoid delays at airports, that millions of women and children will continue to have access to life-saving nutritional assistance, and much more,” the President said.
“We should never have found ourselves in this position,” lamented the head of state, recalling that months ago he reached a budget agreement with the leader of the Republican majority in the lower house of parliament, Kevin McCarthy, “to avoid precisely this type of crisis.” manufactured”.
“For weeks, extremist House Republicans [de Representantes] attempted to walk away from that deal, demanding drastic cuts that would have been devastating for millions of Americans. They failed,” Biden said.
Regarding aid to Ukraine, the president said that “the overwhelming majority of Congress has been steadfast in its support” for the country.
“Under no circumstances can we allow American support for Ukraine to stop,” Biden said.
The head of state called on McCarthy to “maintain his commitment to the people of Ukraine and ensure the approval of the support necessary to help Ukraine at this critical time.”
Congress will debate another bill granting $24 billion (€22.7 billion) in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which Biden wanted included in the budget.
According to the North American press, the vote could take place at the beginning of next week.
Hardline conservatives like Matt Gaetz strongly opposed including aid to Ukraine in the deal, despite support from moderate Republicans, including McCarthy.
Biden approved the law shortly after, as expected, the proposal was approved easily, with 88 votes in favor and nine against, in the Senate, the upper house of the United States parliament, where the Democrats, who support the Government of Biden, they have a majority. .
The law, which keeps the US Government operational until November 17, includes 16 billion dollars (15.1 billion euros) in aid for “the catastrophes in Florida, the horrible fire in Hawaii and also the catastrophes in California and Vermont.”
Source: TSF
