Dispute over aid to Ukraine
Biden blames “extreme Republicans” for impending budget freeze
US President Joe Biden sharply attacked parts of the Republican Party in the dispute over the budget law and described them as “extreme”
© Jacquelyn Martin/AP/DPA
US President Joe Biden is in a tricky situation: He wants to ensure that the new budget law also includes billions for Ukraine. But there is resistance to this and there is a threat of a shutdown.
America is arguing – once again – and the new national budget. In the debate, US President Joe Biden now blames “a small group of extreme Republicans” for an impending budget freeze. Biden said Saturday evening in Washington that he had reached an agreement in talks with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. “Now a small group of extreme Republicans don’t want to keep the agreement,” criticized Biden. “Everyone in America has to pay the price.”
The US Congress must pass a new budget law by midnight on September 30th to secure funding for federal authorities. If Republicans and Democrats cannot agree, there will be a budget freeze, the so-called shutdown. Then hundreds of thousands of state employees will have to be sent on unpaid leave and numerous public institutions such as museums and national parks will have to be closed.
A shutdown would be a political setback for Joe Biden
For Biden, who wants to run for a second term in the White House next year, a shutdown would also be politically fatal. “Funding the government is one of the most important tasks of Congress,” warned the US President. “It’s time for Republicans to start doing the job America elected them to do.”
Republicans and Democrats regularly engage in tough battles over budget issues. This time an agreement is particularly difficult because control of Congress is divided: the Democrats have the majority in the Senate, the Republicans have had the majority in the House of Representatives since the congressional midterm elections in autumn 2022.
The White House wants to ensure that the budget law also contains new aid for Ukraine amounting to $24 billion (around 22.5 billion euros). Democrats and Republicans in the Senate support the plan, but there is resistance from Republican ranks in the House of Representatives. The right-wing wing of the party in particular argues that the money should be better invested in the USA.
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