United States: Congress Avoids State Paralysis

The US Senate on Thursday adopted a text providing for federal services to be funded through December 23, after the House of Representatives did the same on Wednesday, relegating the specter of federal state paralysis for a week. The famous “shutdown”.

Senators voted in favor of this finance bill, which had already passed the House on Wednesday, by 71 votes in favor and 19 against. This bill must still be signed into law by President Joe Biden for it to go into effect.

Thus, Congress is giving itself an extra week to negotiate a long-term agreement to cover the end of fiscal year 2023.

Parliamentarians had until midnight Friday to reach an agreement, otherwise all funding for federal services would have been abruptly cut.

Ministries could have been affected, as well as national parks, some museums and many organizations, forcing hundreds of thousands of employees into technical unemployment.

The “lockdown” in the winter of 2018, the longest in its history, particularly affected baggage checking at airports.

And despite strong partisan divisions, most elected officials on both sides don’t want a situation that risks creating chaos before the holidays.