There were two hours and 58 minutes left for the United States Public Administration to close when the Senate finished voting on the bill under which the closure would not occur, since the State will have funds to continue operating until November 16.
The result of the vote: one hundred votes in favor and zero against. It was not so much enthusiastic unanimity as forced. If a single senator had opposed the measure, the bill would have failed and the closure would have come into force at one minute past twelve today (one minute past six Spanish peninsular time).
Thus, the United States has avoided an extremis, a closure of the Administration that would have suspended employment and salaries of hundreds of thousands of officials, contracted personnel and State contractors.. Of course: the same members of Congress who wanted to close the Administration would have continued to be paid punctually, while the country would have been paralyzed with the progressive reduction of public services at all levels.
The Law that prevents this closure, and that President Joe Biden sanctioned shortly after, establishes a truce in the political battle. But the uncertainties remain. That the Administration has not closed is an unmitigated failure for the most 'Trumpist' wing of the Republican Party, which has opposed the Budget Law to the point of voting against it. In fact, the Act had been approved in the House of Representatives just six hours earlier with the support of 209 Democrats and only 126 Republicans.
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, has gone with the Democrats to avoid the closure of the Public Administration until November 15. Given the impossibility of the extreme right of his party approving a law that would allow the State to continue carrying out its functions, McCarthy has had to give in on some points to achieve the support of Joe Biden's party.
The result is that the law has passed with the support of 209 Democrats and only 126 Republicans.. With this measure, the Republican ultras are going to toughen their opposition to McCarthy. However, the fact that they do not have the votes to carry out a coup in the House and replace the president limits their ability to act.. In any case, the Republican fracture is brutal, with the most Trumpist wing of the party clearly lining up against its own leaders.. Donald Trump himself had intervened in the debate. First, he asked Republicans to specifically defund the lawsuits against him.. Afterwards, he posted a message on his social network, Truth Social, in which he said: UNTIL YOU ACHIEVE IT ALL, CLOSE IT!
The law must now be approved by the Senate. In principle, that shouldn't be a problem.. There remains, however, a point of contention. The Senate has approved, with the support of both parties – Democrats and Republicans – a similar project but with 6 billion dollars (5.67 billion euros) of military aid to Ukraine.. The bill approved by the House does not include anything so that that country can continue defending itself from Russia, in a concession to the far-right wing of the Republican Party, which openly sympathizes with Vladimir Putin.
Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Doesn't Want to Keep Aid to kyiv. But it seems unlikely that he will be exposed to the political consequences of the closure of the Public Administration for this reason.. It is the same thing that happened to the moderate wing and the Democrats of the House of Representatives, when they decided to leave Ukraine out in the vote. After the budget agreement, Joe Biden asked Congress to approve aid to Ukraine, which was left out of the agreement.
Double reason
The reason is twofold. On the one hand, the ultras' argument that their rivals are prioritizing Ukraine over the United States, although totally false – those same ultras have voted against this law that does not include money for Kiev – is very effective among voters.. On the other hand, if the State can operate for at least 45 days, there is time to carry out another law with help to Ukraine.. Otherwise, the entire legislative agenda would be blocked by the closure of the Administration. So the tension continues, although the general feeling is that there will be agreement.
The law passed by the House includes some important modifications for Democrats. Among them is the continuation of the federal State's food stamp program, on which a whopping 42 million Americans depend to feed themselves.. Also included is the maintenance of emergency disaster relief, which is being used in countless areas affected by natural disasters or, simply, droughts.. Finally, it does not include a reinforcement of the fight against illegal immigration.