United States: the budget voted at the last minute in Congress

Washington has not yet moved far from the “shutdown”. Congress finally overwhelmingly passed a $1.2 trillion budget, nearly six months into the fiscal year. The vote was snatched

at the last minute

after the fateful midnight deadline this Friday, which was supposed to trigger a paralysis of the American administration. A scenario that repeats itself every year and is symptomatic of the political divisions within Congress and an election year where the political stakes are at their highest in the United States.

The U.S. Capitol, home to Congress and the Senate, in Washington, February 2024. © J. Scott Applewhite/АР

By: RFI Follow

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Hours before March 23, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a breakthrough with a new bipartisan deal with Republicans.  

This time, the budget was divided into two parts, in the face of the anger of the Republicans who denounced the bloated content of the tax package, also called omnibus, and the speed with which it must be adopted.

No funds for UNRWA

Despite this progress, it took six months after the start of the fiscal year to approach the final finish line and the vote on this second package. Republicans also pushed for deeper spending cuts than Democrats wanted. 

The question of $60 billion in aid to

Ukraine

has also been set aside since it appears in another bill currently blocked in the Senate. No vote is planned for the moment.

On the other hand, the text contains hundreds of millions of dollars for

Taiwan

, as well as several measures linked to immigration, an explosive subject in the middle of the presidential campaign. It also prohibits any direct funding from the United States to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Also read: United States: Congress narrowly avoids a new “shutdown”

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