President Joe Biden signed on Saturday the federal government funding law until the end of September, which was approved by Congress hours earlier, allowing the world’s leading economic power to avoid a partial shutdown of its institutions.
Biden said in a statement that “the funding law I just signed keeps the government functioning, invests in the American people, and strengthens our economy and national security.”
The Democratic-majority Senate approved the funding law worth $1.2 trillion on Saturday after a slight delay on Friday night, following the approval by the House of Representatives.
After hours of intense negotiations with Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced from the council headquarters, “It wasn’t easy, but our perseverance tonight paid off.”
He added, “It’s good for the American people that we have reached a bipartisan agreement to accomplish the task.”
The minor delay will not affect US departments that would have been deprived of funding if no agreement had been reached.
Last-Minute Developments
The last-minute developments reflect the chaos engulfing the US Congress, more than posing a threat to the United States.
During the past year, this body has ousted a Speaker of the House and failed to pass aid to Ukraine, and has only narrowly avoided a government shutdown.
On Friday morning, the House of Representatives witnessed sudden developments in the voting process on the federal budget.
Minutes after the vote, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, announced from the House floor that she had filed a motion to remove the new Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, accusing him of “betrayal.”
Many conservative lawmakers rallied behind Johnson, who has held the position since October, accusing him of making many concessions to Democrats as part of the budget negotiations.
The outspoken and provocative Representative stated, “We need a new Speaker of the House.”
This is not the first time that a Speaker of the House has faced such calls.
A few months ago, Johnson’s predecessor Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the position amid a similar budget controversy, angering Republican lawmakers, particularly regarding reaching a settlement that allowed the avoidance of a government shutdown.
McCarthy was dismissed in a historic vote in October, after lawmakers close to Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in November, accused him of not defending the interests of his party.
The question now is: will Mike Johnson become the second Republican to pay the price for budget settlements?
Tensions have escalated to the extent that the United States has so far been unable to adopt any budget for 2024, a situation not faced by any other economic power in the world.
For months, the US administration has been operating under limited budgets lasting only a few weeks, complicating the work of departments.
UNRWA Funding Suspension
The US budget law extends until the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
The text, which spans over a thousand pages and is the result of tough negotiations, includes measures that may have strong repercussions abroad.
It prohibits any new direct funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is embroiled in a heated controversy after Israel accused 12 out of its 13,000 employees in Gaza of involvement in the attack launched by Hamas on the Israeli state on October 7.
The law allocates hundreds of millions of dollars to Taiwan, but does not provide any funding to Ukraine, as the aid package to Kyiv is subject to separate negotiations.
Republicans, led by Donald Trump, have blocked the aid package to Ukraine and have conditioned its approval on stricter immigration restrictions to the United States, a key issue in the presidential campaign.
Biden warned Congress on Saturday that “the work is not done yet.”
He said in a statement, “The House must pass additional provisions related to our agreed-upon national security to enhance our national security interests. Congress must approve the bipartisan agreement on border security (with Mexico), which is the strongest and most just reform in decades.”
The adopted text also includes a series of provisions not necessarily related to the budget, such as prohibiting US embassies from flying the rainbow flag symbolizing the LGBTQ+ community, contrary to what some embassies have done on occasion during “Pride Month.”
A text was adopted on March 9, allowing the approval of another part of the 2024 budget.