US Congress: Representatives have averted a partial shutdown of US government authorities for the time being
Photo: WIN MCNAMEE/ AFP
The deeply divided US Congress has been unable to agree on a federal budget for months.
Now the parties in parliament continue to struggle - but only for a short time.
After the House of Representatives, the Senate also passed a law on Thursday evening (local time) that will ensure the government's financing for the time being and prevent a so-called shutdown.
The decision extends the current government spending guidelines - for the fourth time in a row.
A few days delay
US President Joe Biden still has to sign the law, this is considered a formality.
But this time the solution only lasts a few days.
Funding for a number of ministries and federal agencies would have expired on Saturday night, and funding for other parts of the government would have expired on March 8th.
Due to the parliamentary decision, the deadlines are now only postponed by a few days: to March 8th and 22nd.
This means that a longer-term solution for the remainder of the financial year until the end of September is still pending.
The political wrangling over the budget is not unusual in the USA.
It happens regularly that Congress first makes do with passing an interim budget and then a few months later argues again about the financing of government operations.
An agreement is usually only reached very close to the deadline, as is the case now.
The question of new financial aid from the USA for other countries such as Ukraine remains unresolved.
Biden had requested a billion-dollar package for Kiev from Congress months ago.
However, some Republicans are skeptical or reject support for Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia.
The domestic political blockade has been preventing the delivery of military supplies from the USA to Kiev for some time.
vet/dpa