US Congress lines up stopgap Bill to avert partial government shutdown
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US House Speaker Mike Johnson leads a narrow and restive 219-211 Republican majority and has repeatedly had to rely on Democratic support to pass major legislation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - Top Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress on Dec 17 unveiled a stopgap measure to keep federal agencies funded through March 14, which would avert a partial government shutdown that would otherwise begin on Dec 21.
The measure would likely keep the roughly US$6.2 trillion (S$8.4 trillion) federal budget running at its current level, funding programmes ranging from the military, air traffic controllers and federal regulators for areas ranging from drug safety to securities markets.
Rank-and-file members of Congress will now review the measure’s details, with some hardline Republicans in the House of Representatives already signalling opposition to some elements, meaning that some Democratic votes will likely be necessary for passage.
It was unclear when the Republican-controlled House will vote, but if successful, the Democratic-majority Senate would aim to take up the legislation before the Dec 20 midnight deadline and send it to President Joe Biden to sign it into law.
The package includes US$100.4 billion in new emergency funding to help states including North Carolina and Florida recover from devastating hurricanes, as well as western wildfires and other recent disasters.
That money would include US$29 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund, US$21 billion for aid to farmers hit by flooding and other losses, and US$10 billion in economic assistance for them, according to the legislative text.
State and local communities would receive US$12 billion in block grants, and US$8 billion would be earmarked for the Transportation Department’s highway and road disaster relief.
Nearly US$5.7 billion in new funding would go to the Pentagon’s Virginia-class submarine building by General Dynamics Corp and Huntington Ingalls Industries, and about US$2.9 billion is set for the Columbia-class model.
The spending package includes more than US$2 billion to help small businesses bounce back after natural disasters, and approximately US$740 million to repair Nasa facilities after recent hurricanes.
Also tucked into the legislation is a greenlight for year-round sales of petrol with a higher ethanol blend, known as E15, and more than US$13 million for security for US Supreme Court justices at their residences.
Should lawmakers fail to act in time, federal agencies would enter a partial shutdown beginning on Dec 21.
House Speaker Mike Johnson leads a narrow and restive 219-211 Republican majority and has repeatedly over the past year had to rely on Democratic support to pass major legislation.
Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement that she supported the “responsible and necessary” spending package.
Rising debt
The stopgap measure is needed because Congress failed to pass its one dozen annual appropriations Bills in time for the current fiscal year, which began on Oct 1. The government’s “mandatory” programmes, which include Social Security and Medicare retirement and healthcare benefits and represent about two-thirds of the budget, renew automatically.
That has contributed to the rising federal debt, which exceeds US$36 trillion. Congress will have to address that again early in 2025, when a 2023 deal to extend the nation’s “debt ceiling” expires. Failure could shock bond markets, with potentially severe economic consequences.
Democrats had pushed for a longer Bill funding the government through the end of its current fiscal year ending Sept 30, but Republicans wanted to wait for a final agreement until after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan 20 and their party takes its majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Trump and congressional Republicans campaigned all year on a promise of significantly cutting the number of federal workers and proposing deep cuts to many of the government’s programmes.
Trump has created an advisory committee called the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Tesla founder Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, and former presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Neither has any government experience.
Riding along in this spending Bill is a one-year extension of federal farm programmes, including commodity subsidies and food and nutrition benefits for low-income people. Without such an extension, prices for milk, cheese and other dairy products would skyrocket after Dec 31. REUTERS