nOnly six hours remained on Saturday evening to reach an agreement on the next budget. The deadline set for Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress to avoid the so-called shutdown expired at midnight Eastern time. Just before twelve o’clock, the House leader was able to compromise on a 45-day interim budget and win the vote.
Republican Kevin McCarthy was only able to do this with the help of Democrats, as 91 Republicans voted against his deal. McCarthy’s ultimately successful proposal has several drawbacks: for one thing, the dispute was only postponed until mid-November. On the other hand, McCarthy faces the imminent threat of a coup by his own people due to opposition within his faction to his deal.
Important for Europe: The settlement paper does not provide any money for Ukraine. The bridge budget was originally supposed to provide $6 billion in new aid. But because nearly two dozen hardliners in his faction are rebelling against more money for Kiev, McCarthy removed that passage from the draft.
Democratic Senators criticize lack of aid to Ukraine
On Saturday evening, the Senate approved the bill from the House of Representatives. Democrats hold a narrow majority there, and the lack of support for Ukraine has been met with protest. Senators halted the vote. Others asserted that Congress would initiate and pass new aid. “Republicans have a choice in the next few days between defending freedom, democracy and Ukraine starting Monday or bowing down to the pro-Putin people in their party,” House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
US President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve $24 billion in new aid to Ukraine. There is no doubt that as the election campaign approaches, pressure is mounting on the majority of Democrats and Republicans to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia for as long as possible. Former President Trump is supported by his supporters with his statements that the Europeans will have to bear the lion’s share of aid in the future. The United States has so far borne more than half of the military aid.
Given the dwindling willingness to provide support, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington a week ago and appealed to Congress to continue assistance. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer quoted the Ukrainian as saying after the meetings: “If aid stops arriving, Ukraine will lose the war.”
During Zelensky’s visit, Biden promised Ukraine additional aid worth 308 million euros. The US government also wants to launch surface-to-surface missiles for the first time in the foreseeable future, but this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Right-wing extremists blocked aid to Ukraine
“Democrats only care about defending Ukraine’s borders while keeping our borders open to the world,” pro-Trump Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who again voted against the settlement, attacked President Biden on Saturday. Meanwhile, Biden used a social media campaign to try to blame right-wing Republicans for the chaos at the Capitol.
Kevin McCarthy, Republican from California and House Minority Leader
Source: AFP
If the deal had not been successful, the lights would have literally gone out in large parts of the state apparatus on October 1. Hundreds of thousands of civil servants will be forced to go on unpaid leave, and large parts of the administration of the world’s largest economy will stop working. In Washington, D.C. alone, 160,000 government employees will be affected. Public services classified as „essential”, such as rubbish collection and courts, will not be affected, and some of their employees will have to continue working without pay.
This is the second time this year that Republicans under Trump have blocked the budget. At the end of May, Biden reached a last-minute agreement with opposition leader McCarthy on the debt ceiling. But this time things will be very close; McCarthy has not yet been able to create consensus in his divided faction. Which also has something to do with McCarthy himself.
At the beginning of the year, the Californian did not win his position as Speaker of the US House of Representatives until after 15 rounds of voting. It was the longest election for Speaker of the House in 160 years. His critics within his own party have not diminished since then and see the budget dispute as an opportunity to stage a coup against McCarthy.
