The House of Representatives finally agreed on Saturday on a temporary 45-day plan to avoid government paralysis.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, made a radical change of course by abandoning draconian budget cuts and counting on Democrats to pass this bill aimed at funding the government for 45 days .
The Senate also met for a rare weekend session to advance its own bipartisan piece of legislation, which would fund the government in the short term, through November 17.
The House bill does not include any component for aid to Ukraine, a priority for the White House that a growing number of Republican lawmakers oppose. It increases federal funds for disaster relief to $16 billion, as President Joe Biden wanted.
The bill passed by a large majority, 335 to 91.
“We are going to do our job,” Mr. McCarthy said before the vote. We are going to behave like adults. We will not shut down the government. »
Only one Democrat opposed the bill: Congressional Ukraine Caucus Co-Chair Mike Quingley. He said the vote result was a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters. “Protecting Ukraine is in our national interest,” he said.
If a deal is not reached by midnight, federal workers will be furloughed, more than two million active duty and reserve troops will work without pay, and the programs Americans depend on will begin to shut down.
The bill will fund the government at current levels for 45 days, coming close to the senators’ position. Their plan, however, plans to add $6 billion to aid for Ukraine and another $6 billion to relief funds.
Relying on Democratic votes and turning his back on the right of his party is a move that far-right lawmakers say could cost Mr. McCarthy his job as president. It is almost certain that they will quickly table a motion to try to remove Mr. McCarthy from office, although it is not at all certain that they would have the support necessary to force the president from his chair.
“If someone wants to force me out because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try,” Mr. McCarthy told his opponents.
“But I think this country is too important. »
This change of course by the Speaker of the House comes after he failed on Friday to pass his exclusively Republican bill providing for deep spending cuts, of up to 30% for most government agencies .
The White House and Democrats rejected the idea as too extreme.
Mr. McCarthy offered to meet with President Joe Biden, but the White House rejected the proposal. Earlier this year, Mr. Biden withdrew from the deal to raise the debt ceiling, which suspended budget levels at their current levels.