Republican senators threatened Tuesday to cause a paralysis of the American federal state this weekend, refusing to support the adoption of a budget which they accuse Joe Biden of using to finance… crack pipes.
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It all started with the publication last week of an article by a conservative media assuring that the American government had allocated 30 million dollars to the financing of pipes to inhale crack, a cheap derivative of cocaine.
The White House and the Department of Health have repeatedly strongly denied this claim.
But a senator from Tennessee, relaying the story, has for the moment indicated that she would oppose the adoption of a law to finance the federal state, assuring that “American taxpayers’ money should not be used to finance vending machines for crack pipes”.
The current federal budget expires Friday, February 18.
If Republicans and Democrats fail to agree in time to extend it, hundreds of thousands of employees would be forced into technical unemployment, if only for a few days. Ministries but also national parks, certain museums and a multitude of organizations would be affected.
This risk, although slim for the moment, is fueled by the refusal of other Republicans to support this budget, arguing that it would help finance the implementation of vaccination obligations in the country, which they oppose.
The leader of the Senate Democrats nevertheless said on Tuesday that he had the “hope” that the Republican opposition will change their minds to avoid this paralysis nicknamed “shutdown” and very unpopular among Americans.
“Nobody, and certainly not my Republican colleagues, wants a paralysis of the federal state caused by the Republicans”, underlined Chuck Schumer from the hemicycle.
It is in fact very common for last-minute agreements to be reached on these finance laws.