Washington:
US President Joe Biden has signed a three-month government funding bill to avert an impending government shutdown and postpone any serious debate on government spending until after the November election, media reported. .
The bridge spending bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, extends government funding until Dec. 20, The Guardian reported.
In addition, following two recent assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump, the Secret Service has been hired for “activities necessary to conduct protective operations, including the 2024 presidential election campaign and special national security events.” It plans to provide an additional $231 million.
Biden's signing of the bill comes a day after the House and Senate passed it with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
“Passage of this bill gives Congress more time to pass a full-year funding bill before the end of this year,” Biden said Wednesday.
“My administration will work with Congress to ensure these bills work for our national defense, our veterans, our seniors, our children, and working families, and for the American people, including communities recovering from disaster. We will respond to urgent needs.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson initially sought to pass a more right-wing proposal that combined a six-month stopgap funding measure with the American Voter Eligibility Safeguards Act, but that proposal has been controversial. It required the public to present evidence. Gain citizenship when you register to vote.
That effort failed last week, with all but 14 Republicans and two Democrats opposing Johnson's bill. The failure forced Johnson to adopt a three-month spending bill narrow enough to win support from Democrats. The House passed the bill Wednesday by a vote of 341-82, with all of the objections coming from Republicans.
“The legislative work leading up to November is officially complete and today the House of Commons did what was necessary,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
“We took the lead and passed a clean, narrow three-month CR to prevent the Senate from sabotaging us with new, bloated legislation while continuing the resolution. ”
The Guardian reported that Mr Johnson was nodding to widespread opposition to the bill in the chamber, with 82 Republicans voting against it amid complaints about wasteful government spending.
“A continuing resolution is never ideal, but none of us like it. It's not the way to run a railroad, but it allows Congress to continue to serve the American people through elections,” Johnson said. said.
After the House passed the continuing resolution at noon Wednesday, the Senate moved immediately to consider the bill. The Senate passed the bill just two hours after the House passed it on a bipartisan vote of 78-18.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer thanked Mr. Johnson for his efforts to avert a government shutdown, even though it had been clear for weeks that a few quick fixes were needed. , lamented that it took Congress until the last minute to pass the funding measure.
“Americans will sleep better tonight knowing we avoided an unnecessary government shutdown at the end of the month,” Schumer said before the vote.
“It's a relief for this country that we were once again able to get bipartisan support and stop another government shutdown threat. It took longer than necessary, but House Republicans finally Congress has support because they chose to work with us.'' We're done for tonight. ”
Schumer blamed former President Donald Trump for the delay, having previously implored Republican lawmakers to veto any funding bill unless it related to “election security” measures. He was blaming. Although the newly signed bill did not meet that requirement, Johnson insisted that President Trump supports Republican efforts to keep the government funded.
“Former President Trump understands the current dilemma and the situation we are in,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.
“So we're going to continue to work closely together. I'm not going against President Trump. We're doing our job and he understands that. I think so.”
Both chambers are currently in recess for six weeks, meaning lawmakers will not be able to return to the Capitol until after voting day. Johnson's decision to rely on Democratic support to pass the funding package has put his future as speaker in doubt, but on Wednesday he announced his leadership and the party's ability to expand its narrow House majority. expressed confidence in the outlook.
“It would be foolish to predict a certain number of seats, but let me just say I'm very optimistic,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters.
“I believe we will hold the House, and I intend to be the speaker of the new Congress.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
