US House of Representatives approves temporary spending plan without aid to Ukraine
The US House of Representatives passed a bill for temporary government funding to prevent a shutdown.
This adoption comes after criticism of the bill from both Congress and the White House, Bloomberg reports.
Support from House Speaker Mike Johnson will provide an extension to pass annual spending until next year.
The Senate will now consider the bill, which is expected to receive approval, even if it lacks additional funding for Ukraine and Israel. The Senate is set to make a decision by Friday, November 17, as federal funding expires then.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised to work with his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell to "swiftly pass the funding."
The White House stated that President Joe Biden would sign the bill if supported by the Senate. The Biden administration suggests that Congress can now return to approving assistance for Ukraine and Israel.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that Mike Johnson's bill posed a threat to national security and internal US priorities. It was also criticized in the House and Senate.
Previous threat of shutdown
A "shutdown" in the US was looming from October 1 if Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) did not timely approve budgetary matters. Congress needs to find compromise solutions for the fiscal year 2024 budget, debates on which are ongoing due to political differences.
A "shutdown" means that thousands of government employees would be furloughed without pay. Only workers providing "essential services" such as air traffic control or law enforcement would continue working. However, until Congress resolves budgetary issues, they would also go without pay. Therefore, a "shutdown" could potentially disrupt the provision of several government services, cause salary delays, and harm the national economy if it lasts long.
To prevent a "shutdown," a short-term budget resolution for 45 days was introduced in Congress. During this period, budget issues were to be resolved.
This document also included a provision for $6.152 billion in additional aid to Ukraine. However, a bipartisan agreement was ultimately passed in the US a few hours before the deadline without aid to Ukraine.
