(Washington) US President Joe Biden on Saturday accused “a small group of extremist Republicans” of threatening to trigger a paralysis of the federal administration, or “shutdown”, next week.
Mr. Biden, speaking at a congressional dinner, said he had agreed with Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy on the level of public spending for the next fiscal year, which begins 1er october.
PHOTO MARK SCHIEFELBEIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
US Congress Speaker Kevin McCarthy
But “today, a small group of extremist Republicans does not want to respect the agreement and all Americans could have to pay the price,” he lamented.
“Funding the government is one of the most fundamental responsibilities of Congress. It’s time for Republicans to start doing the job America elected them to do. Let’s do it,” he added.
The American Congress, which must vote on funding for the federal government before midnight on September 30, is currently divided: the Senate is dominated by the Democrats, but the House of Representatives is under the control of the Republican opposition.
The White House wants to include $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine in the budget. This measure is supported by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, but some members of the House of Representatives are fiercely opposed to it.
The budget vote in Congress regularly turns into a standoff between the two parties, with each side using the prospect of a shutdown to obtain concessions from the other, until a solution is found at the last minute.
The shutdown differs from the default, which threatened the American economy in the spring, and was linked to the debt ceiling that Congress had to raise.
Spending frozen in the event of a shutdown is less than in the event of default, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan organization.
In the event of a shutdown, civil servants would, for example, not be paid temporarily, certain health systems could be affected as well as air transport, with air traffic controllers ceasing to receive their salaries.
The last paralysis of the federal administration dates back to 2018. Around 850,000 civil servants were placed on partial unemployment, according to the Committee.