At the last minute, the US Congress passed the law that prevents it shutdown federal. It was a tense night for the United States, where there was growing fear of not being able to approve the new budget plan by the deadline. Ultimately, the bill passed shortly after the midnight deadline. With this, the financing to the federal government until March 14. The plan also includes several billion for children aid for reconstructionand after the passage of hurricanes and for support for the agricultural sector. However, raising the debt ceiling requested by Donald Trump.
Shutdown avoided: government activities refinanced until March
Difficult negotiations accompanied the approval of the financial agreement for federal government activities. There were several delays, also due to the presence of loud voices that got in the way, but in the end a solution was found agreement. This came shortly after midnight on Saturday (6:00 am Italian time), with 85 votes in favor and 11 against. The last step will be the signature of the outgoing president Joe Biden.
The agreement had already been approved in the Chamber on Friday evening, in this case with a large majority: 366 votes in favor and 34 against. Then the slowdown: half an hour delay in approval in the other branch of Congress.
After discussions and delays, the agreement will allow do not disrupt federal activities thanks to the refinancing until March 2025. But the text also provides for a series of useful loans, such as the approximately 100 billion dollars for supporting the people involved in natural disasterswith particular reference to the recent hurricanes, and another 10 billion to assist farmers in difficulty.
Trump and Elon Musk's (unapproved) plan
While US citizens, especially employees who would have risked losing jobs and unpaid salaries, awaited the outcome of the agreement, politicians used the plan as a tool for perpetual electoral campaigns and confrontation with the other side . Donald Trump, re-elected president, had asked the Republicans not to vote on the agreement reached with the Democrats. Soon, there was no shortage of statements from Elon Musk, who criticized the agreement, claiming that it contained unnecessary measures and expenses.
An alternative plan had been proposed to reduce these excessive expenses and eliminate others, but above all it added the suspension of the debt ceiling (the amount of money the state can borrow on the markets). Trump would have liked to renew the provision in view of January 20, while at the moment the cap is suspended until January 1, 2025.
However, the new plan was not liked by the Democrats, but not even by some Republicans, which is why it was rejected. In the end, the text agreed on Saturday is not too far from the one proposed by Trump, but it does not include the suspension of the debt ceiling.
The agreement avoided the suspension of jobs and salaries, but also the closure of parks, museums and other federal services. The fear of the shutdown in the United States is real, because during Trump's last mandate, between 2018 and 2019, a 35-day shutdown occurred.
