Spending project goes to the Senate; establishes 2 new deadlines for Congress to discuss the budget and avoid a “blackout”
The United States House of Representatives approved this Thursday (29.Feb.2024) a temporary funding bill to avoid a partial government shutdown over the weekend — the so-called “shutdown”, extending the deadline to mid-March. The project was sent to the Senate 1 day before the funding deadline.
The text was approved with 320 votes in favor and 99 against. It extends government funding deadlines to March 8th and 22nd. The goal is to allow lawmakers more time to reach an agreement on funding for the entire fiscal year — which began Oct. 1, 2023.
About 20% of the federal government, including several key departments, could close on Saturday (2 March) if Congress does not pass new spending legislation.
With the agreement between House and Senate leaders, funding for the Commerce, Justice and Interior departments would end on March 8. Funding for the rest of the government, including the Defense, State and Health departments, would be extended until March 22.
However, the financing project needs to pass through Sanado before midnight on Friday (1st March) to avoid any interruption, even temporary. According to the news agency Reutersthe expectation is that the provisional financing measure, known as “CR” or Continuing Resolution, will be forwarded for signature by President Joe Biden this Thursday (Feb 29).
On January 18, the US House of Representatives approved a bill that extended the deadline for delivering the US federal budget until March. Read the full text (PDF – 200 kB, in English).
UNDERSTAND
In 1884, the US government enacted the Anti-Deficiency Act – which prohibits federal agencies from spending more than allowed without Congressional approval.
Therefore, annually, the House has to approve 12 appropriations laws to finance all public spending. If this is not done, sectors that have not had their expenses approved will come to a standstill – the shutdown.
Since 1976, when the US changed the start of the fiscal year to October 1, the government has shut down 21 times. Among these, the most relevant were in 1995, 2013 and 2018.
Source: https://www.poder360.com.br/internacional/camara-dos-eua-aprova-projeto-e-alivia-risco-de-shutdown/
