Shutdown threatens this weekend
US senators propose compromise in budget dispute
September 27, 2023, 1:38 a.m
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The USA is on the verge of a shutdown: If Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on a new budget law, the state will no longer be able to pay its employees. There is now a compromise proposal in Congress. But he could fail because of the right-wing Republicans.
A few days before an impending budget freeze in the USA, Democratic and Republican senators presented a compromise proposal for a short-term interim budget. The compromise released would ensure funding for federal agencies through November 17th. The proposal also includes around $6 billion (5.7 billion euros) in additional aid for Ukraine. President Joe Biden asked Congress for $24 billion. The chances of success of the compromise proposal in the House of Representatives are still uncertain.
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.
While Biden’s Democrats and the opposition Republicans were able to reach an agreement in the Senate, the situation in the House of Representatives is much more difficult: the right-wing wing of the Republicans, who make up the majority in the chamber of Congress, are blocking attempts to reach an agreement.
At the weekend, Biden blamed “a small group of extreme Republicans” for the impending budget freeze. He reached an agreement in talks with the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, 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.”