The U.S. Senate passed a temporary appropriation bill on Thursday evening to avoid a short-term government shutdown and allow the federal government to maintain funds until February 18 next year. Previously, congressional leaders resolved the stalemate between the two parties on the issue of federal vaccine injunctions. The bill is now handed over to President Biden to sign into law.
Congressional leaders announced earlier on Thursday that they have reached an agreement to allow the government to run for another 11 weeks and maintain spending at current levels, while at the same time adding $7 billion to aid people evacuated from Afghanistan.
After the House of Representatives voted to pass the bill, the Senate immediately announced an agreement to allow senators to vote on the bill soon.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who represents New York State, said: “I’m very happy. In the end, a cool head prevailed. The government will remain open. The avoided, unnecessary, and costly closing edge was pulled back.”
The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 69 to 28.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 221 to 212. The Republican leadership urged lawmakers to vote against it; the only Republican vote for the bill came from Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger.
The lawmakers were dissatisfied with this short-term solution and accused their opponents of lack of progress on this year’s spending bill. However, Congressman Rosa DeLauro, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the bill passed would allow lawmakers to negotiate a comprehensive plan covering the entire budget year to September next year.
Before the vote, Biden said he had already talked to the leaders of the Senate and hinted that the outside world need not worry too much about the government shutting down.
Biden said: “We have a plan, unless someone makes a completely absurd decision, but I don’t think this will happen.”
Some Republicans who oppose the Biden vaccine injunction have always hoped that Congress will take a strong stance and oppose mandatory vaccinations for employees of large and medium-sized companies. Forced to close.
This is not the first time that the U.S. government has a “dangerous situation” of government shutdown due to the disagreement of Congress on the appropriation issue. In the past two decades, the U.S. government has experienced several costly government shutdowns and partial closures.
The longest government shutdown in history occurred during President Trump’s administration-the 35-day government shutdown lasted until January 2019, when the Democratic Party refused to approve Trump’s request for funding for the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. Both parties agree that the shutdown of the government is irresponsible, and members of Congress usually rush to the deadline to introduce temporary actions to avoid the shutdown of the government.
(This article is based on the Associated Press report)
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