Washington [US], November 13: US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on November 11 announced a plan to provide a temporary budget for the federal government, to prevent the possibility of a partial government shutdown after November 17.
According to AP, Mr. Johnson's ( Republican party member) plan is to continue providing funding for government agencies and programs until January 19, 2024 and February 2, 2024 (divided into 2 different groups). . This is an approach rarely applied to temporary federal spending. Typically, lawmakers extend the funding period to a certain date for all programs.
Mr. Johnson decided to take a combined approach, addressing concerns from Republican lawmakers who wanted to avoid facing a huge spending bill right before the holidays. According to him, the "two-step" plan mentioned above helps the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives "stand in the best position to fight and bring victory to the conservatives". The plan does not include funds requested by US President Joe Biden for Israel, Ukraine as well as for the US-Mexico border.
Although they do not support temporary spending plans of any kind, a group of hard-line Republican lawmakers previously signaled they would facilitate passage of Mr. Johnson's plan, helping lawmakers more time to negotiate a long-term agreement. But some members of this group voiced criticism immediately after the plan was revealed on November 11.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration believes that this plan is "not serious", cannot be implemented and is a threat to national security. According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Mr. Johnson's proposal is a "recipe" for causing more chaos for the Republican Party and forcing the government to shut down more times. "House Republicans need to stop wasting time on their internal divisions, get the job done, and engage in bipartisan cooperation to prevent a government shutdown," she said.
The US federal government is operating according to the budget approved by both houses of Congress last year. Faced with the risk of a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends on September 30, the US Congress passed a "continuing resolution" (continuing resolution or CR) to provide temporary funding for the government during the term. 47 days, i.e. until November 17.
The new interim budget plan needs to be passed in both the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate, before being brought to President Biden's desk. If there is no deal by November 18, the world's largest economy will immediately feel the impact:
1.5 million federal government employees will not be paid, most federal facilities including national parks will close and sectors such as aviation may experience disruption, according to AFP .
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
