McCarthy proposes a 30% budget cut, but opposition within the party
If budget agreement is not reached by tomorrow, federal government will be shut down.
Biden “I can’t get military salaries… House of Representatives dereliction of duty”
The deadline for the U.S. Congress to process next year’s budget is one day away, but the House of Representatives has still not reached an agreement, raising the possibility of a U.S. federal government shutdown.
The Senate agreed to pass a temporary budget to prevent a shutdown, but the House of Representatives is still insisting on drastic cuts to the budget, leading to an endless deadlock.
According to the Associated Press and the Washington Post on the 29th (local time), House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proposed a 30-day interim budget that cuts the government bill by about 30% and strengthens border control, but it was approved with 198 votes in favor and 232 against. It was rejected.
As expected, the Democratic Party voted against it, and 21 far-right Republican lawmakers reportedly also refused to pass the bill. Far-right lawmakers are calling for stronger border control policies.
Chairman McCarthy announced an alternative a day before the deadline and submitted it to a vote, but it did not even pass the House of Representatives. The sense of crisis over the federal government shutdown has heightened.
In the United States, the budget for the next fiscal year takes effect on October 1 of that year. If Congress fails to agree on next year’s budget by tomorrow, the federal government will be shut down.
In the event of a government shutdown, salaries will not be paid to public officials, including 2 million military personnel. The U.S. government is warning that government support programs, such as support for Hawaii wildfire victims, will not function properly.
To prevent this, the U.S. Senate agreed to a short-term budget plan that will apply until November 17th. It also included a plan to provide approximately $6.15 billion (approximately 8.308 trillion won) for the Ukraine war and $5.99 billion for disaster relief.
However, Chairman McCarthy has stated that he will not accept the Senate plan, saying that he will look for another alternative.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden increased the level of pressure on the House of Representatives, saying they were dereliction of duty and putting the military at risk.
President Biden attended the inauguration ceremony for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff held in Fort Myers, Virginia, and said, “If the House of Representatives fails to perform its most basic function and send funds to the government by tomorrow, we will set our entire military in a state of disappointment.” He complained.
“Our soldiers will continue to honor their oath, go to work, stand guard around the world and protect national security, but they will not be paid,” he said, calling it “a shame.”
“The longer the shutdown lasts, the more difficult it will be for military families to pay their bills,” he said. “We can’t play politics while the military is standing in a hole.” “It is an absolute dereliction of duty,” he emphasized.
If a shutdown occurs, it will be five years since 2018 during the Trump administration. At the time, the shutdown lasted more than a month, and about 800,000 federal government employees did not receive their salaries for two months.
[워싱턴=뉴시스]
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.