Keystone-SDA
Elected officials in the American Congress reached a budget agreement on Tuesday that would make it possible to finance the federal government until mid-March. The agreement makes it possible to avoid a paralysis of public services, the famous “shutdown”, just before the end-of-year holidays.
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December 18, 2024 – 03:10
(Keystone-ATS) The negotiated text must now be adopted by the Republican-majority House of Representatives before heading to the Senate, which should vote before the end of the week, then to the desk of US President Joe Biden to be promulgated.
Time is running out, because Parliament has until Friday evening, at midnight, to adopt a financing measure, even temporary, for federal public services, otherwise the United States would experience a new “shutdown”, with unemployment at stake. technical support for hundreds of thousands of civil servants, the freezing of several social benefits, or even the closure of certain crèches.
This situation is extremely unpopular in the United States, especially as Christmas approaches.
Fights between republicans
The financing of federal services is a subject of frequent contention in the United States and now even in the Republican camp, where internal struggles rage between moderate conservatives and Trumpists in favor of a severe slimming down of the federal state. .
The text will ensure state funding until mid-March and notably includes more than $100 billion in aid against natural disasters requested by Joe Biden, as well as $10 billion in aid to American farmers.
The Republicans will regain the majority in the Senate in early January when the newly elected officials are sworn in, while President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20.
The ruling party will then endeavor to implement in Congress the financing of the new president’s program, particularly in terms of expulsions of migrants, oil exploitation and tax cuts.
