WASHINGTON, Sep 26 (Aljazeera) - Leaders in the United States Senate have agreed to a stopgap measure designed to prevent an imminent government shutdown over budget legislation.
The deal, hashed out between Republicans and Democrats, would keep the government open for six additional weeks. It would also earmark approximately $6bn in short-term funding for Ukraine as it fends off a Russian invasion.
But should the deal pass the full Senate, it will likely face significant hurdles in the House of Representatives, where far-right Republicans have promised to shoot it down if it reaches the floor.
Seeming to anticipate criticism from the hardline flank of his party, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell defended the short-term solution in a speech on Tuesday.
“Delaying action on short-term government funding doesn’t advance the ball on any policy priorities,” the Republican senator said.
“Shutting the government down over a domestic government dispute doesn’t strengthen anyone’s political position. It just puts important progress on ice, and it leaves millions of Americans on edge.”
The US government is less than five days away from its deadline to pass budget legislation at midnight on September 30 (04:00 GMT on Sunday).
Should it fail to do so, much of the government will stop all non-essential functions, leaving federal services in limbo and millions of employees without their paycheques.
That prospect could also further dent the US’s credit rating, thereby forcing the government to pay higher interest rates.
Already, in August, one of the major credit ratings agencies, Fitch Ratings, downgraded the US’s score from AAA — the highest — to AA+, citing a “steady deterioration in standards of governance”. Analysts with another credit agency, Moody’s, issued a warning on Monday that it could follow suit if the budget standoff is not resolved.
But Republicans, particularly on the far-right, have baulked at current levels of government spending, calling for stiff cuts to expenditures like aid for Ukraine.
“This will certainly lead to a government shutdown,” Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio said in response to the $6bn for Ukraine in the stopgap proposal.
If the stopgap measure passes the full Senate in the coming days, as is expected, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — the top Republican in the lower chamber — can choose to bring the legislation to the floor.
But he faces a split party, with some in the far-right threatening to remove him from his leadership position if he partners with Democrats to pass budget legislation.
When asked by reporters on Tuesday whether he felt his speakership was on the line, McCarthy issued a punchy response.
“Oh man, that should make me worried, huh?” McCarthy said theatrically. “It’s the same thing you asked me before I got elected speaker. I’m not worried about whether there’s a speakership place or not. The only thing I care about is fighting for the American people.”
In January, it took McCarthy five days and a historic 15 rounds of voting to gain the speakership, amid staunch opposition from the far-right.
Photo from AP
