Congress Votes, U.S. Government Shutdown Averted; Bill Awaits Joe Biden's Signature

With the vote of the U.S. Senate following the approval of a temporary bill in the House of Representatives, a government shutdown in the United States has been averted. The U.S. government only had funding until Sunday, October 1 (9 Mehr), and if Congress had not approved the budget, the federal government would have temporarily shut down. On Saturday evening, the House of Representatives, controlled by a Republican majority, passed a bill to prevent a government shutdown for the next 45 days. That night, the U.S. Senate, which has a Democratic majority, approved the bill, which now only requires the signature of the President of the United States to be enacted, thus averting a government shutdown. Previously, the White House had announced that it was working with leaders of both parties in Congress to prevent a shutdown. According to the resolution passed by the House and approved by the Senate, the government is funded until November 17 (Friday, 26 Aban), and Congress must decide on future government funding before this date. Republicans oppose Biden's government spending and say they prefer long-term measures to reduce government spending. The Biden administration insists that the government must be funded first before decisions are made about spending cuts. Both the House and Senate must ultimately reach an agreement on the budget; otherwise, the U.S. government will face a temporary shutdown due to lack of funding. In the event of a shutdown, all sectors except emergency government services would close until Congress reaches an agreement on funding. More than ten times in U.S. history, the government has faced temporary shutdowns due to lack of funding. This has happened twice in recent years during Donald Trump's presidency. During the presidencies of Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Obama, it occurred once each, during Clinton's presidency it happened twice, and during Reagan's presidency, three times. One of the longest shutdowns occurred in December 2018 during Trump's presidency, which resulted in a 35-day shutdown due to opposition from the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. The possibility of a government shutdown became more likely; the budget proposal was rejected by hardline Republicans in the House of Representatives. The shadow of a shutdown looms over the U.S. government; the Senate passed the bill, but the Speaker of the House is opposed. A warning from a senior U.S. Justice Department official; the dangerous impact of a government shutdown on cybersecurity.