US Congress Announces Interim Budget to Avoid Federal Shutdown

The U.S. Senate will hold an initial vote on an interim spending measure on Tuesday to keep federal agencies running through the end of this week as Congress continues to negotiate bills to fund the government until next year. fiscal year.

President Joe Biden’s Democrats control both houses of Congress and must avoid an embarrassing partial government shutdown just six weeks before the Nov. 8 election, when control of Congress will be at stake.

The bill, which will extend general government funding until Dec. 16, calls for $12.3 billion in new investment to help Ukraine fight Russian invasion, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa said. DeLauro, in a statement.

Congress has resorted to this type of last-minute temporary spending bill 43 of the last 46 years due to a failure to pass annual appropriations in time for the start of the federal fiscal year, according to a government study.

The outcome of a first vote was unclear due to a fight over a complement from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who has pushed to include a measure to speed up the government licensing process for energy projects.

Even if Tuesday’s procedural vote fails, the leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate must shift gears to promptly pass the spending bill by midnight on Friday.

That’s when government agencies run out of money with the start of a new fiscal year on Saturday.

With cold winter weather looming across the United States, the legislation provides an additional $1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program “to help address pressure on low-income households’ pockets due to inflation.” ,” said DeLauro.