Shutdown averted: US Senate passes budget package – without aid to Ukraine

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Seat of the US Congress: Capitol in Washington, DC

Photo: Pedro Ugarte / AFP

Shortly before an impending budget freeze, the US Congress passed a trillion-dollar budget package. After the Senate initially missed a midnight deadline, the Chamber of Congress agreed in the early hours of Saturday morning to a budget compromise for the period until the end of September worth 1.2 trillion dollars (around 1.1 trillion euros). On Friday, the House of Representatives, led by the opposition Republicans, had already approved the solution negotiated with the Democrats of US President Joe Biden.

Until recently, it was unclear whether there would be a partial standstill in government business – a so-called shutdown. Theoretically, this was the case for a short time, as the deadline passed before the vote was finished. However, this did not have an actual effect. The fact that a vote in the Senate was only just a short time ago was not due to a lack of a majority, but rather due to the parliamentary tactics of Republican senators. In the end, a total of 74 senators voted for the budget package and 24 against it.

US President Joe Biden still has to sign the law - this is considered a formality. The White House announced that night that it expected this to happen on Saturday.

Aid to Ukraine is not included

At the beginning of March, Congress had already passed the budget for a number of federal agencies. However, the vote on the appropriations for the Departments of State, Defense, Treasury, Labor and Health as well as the Department of Homeland Security and Congress itself was pending until the very end. A further aid package for Ukraine, which has been negotiated for months, is not included in the compromise.

Although the US budget year that begins in October is already more than five months old, President Joe Biden's Democrats and the opposition Republicans were initially unable to agree on a regular budget. To prevent a shutdown, they instead passed a series of interim budgets.

The arguments over the budget had been going on for months. In the meantime, Congress managed to pass several interim budgets. This essentially had to do with a blockade attitude among the Republicans. Together, both packages amount to $1.66 trillion.

Party revolt by the ultra-right among the Republicans

Friday's vote in the House of Representatives caused a party revolt by some ultra-right Republicans who strictly reject the budget compromise with the Democrats. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is close to former President Donald Trump, accused House Republican leader Mike Johnson of "treason." According to her own statements, she also requested his removal.

It is true that some intermediate parliamentary steps are necessary between Greene's motion and an actual vote of no confidence. At this point it is unclear whether – and if so, when – this could happen. The move once again highlights Johnson's politically sensitive situation. Since his election as chairman in October last year, members of the radical right have been pushing him. His predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, had previously fallen out over the funding issue himself.

Democrats offer help for Johnson – if he agrees to aid to Ukraine

Even in the event of a vote of no confidence, Johnson would need votes from the Democrats. According to the US media, they have already signaled that they want to come to his aid - if he brings the Ukraine aid that has been stuck in his chamber for weeks to a vote. This in turn is a red flag for the radical right and would be a daring step on Johnson's party-political balancing act.

Johnson is having a hard time closing his own ranks - and this with only a wafer-thin majority that will soon shrink even further: Republican Mike Gallagher also announced his resignation on April 19th. The Wisconsin state representative's seat will remain empty until the November election. For Johnson, this means, on the one hand, that he is even more dependent than before on Democratic votes for any legislative proposals. On the other hand, he can't really afford compromises because this turns the right-wing hardliners against him.

mgo/AFP/dpa