Joe Biden Signs Congress's Budget Bill; U.S. Government Shutdown Averted

Half an hour before midnight on the last day of September, Joe Biden, the President of the United States, announced via a post on his official account on 'X' that he had signed the U.S. Congress's bill to prevent a government shutdown. With the President's signature on this bill, which has now become law, the potential government shutdown due to budget disagreements has been postponed for 45 days. Biden's post on X stated that the U.S. Senate had voted to eliminate the government shutdown after the House of Representatives approved a temporary bill. The U.S. government only had funding until Sunday, October 1 (9 Mehr), and if Congress had not passed 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. On Saturday night, the U.S. Senate, controlled by a Democratic majority, also approved the bill, which only required the President's signature to take effect. The White House had previously announced that it was working with leaders of both parties in Congress to prevent a government shutdown. According to the House of Representatives' bill and Senate approval, 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 expenses. The Biden administration emphasizes that the government must first be funded before decisions are made about reducing expenses. Ultimately, both the House of Representatives and the Senate must agree on the budget; otherwise, the U.S. government will temporarily shut down due to a lack of funding. In the event of a shutdown, all sectors except for emergency services would close until Congress reaches an agreement on funding. The U.S. government has faced temporary shutdowns due to funding issues more than ten times in history. This has occurred twice during Donald Trump's presidency in recent years. During the presidencies of Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Obama, it happened once each, twice during Clinton's presidency, and three times during Reagan's presidency. One of the longest shutdowns occurred in December 2018 during Trump’s term, resulting in a 35-day government shutdown due to the House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, opposing him. The potential for a government shutdown increased; the budget proposal was rejected by far-right Republicans in the House of Representatives. The shadow of a shutdown looms over the U.S. government; the Senate approved the bill, but the House Speaker is opposed. A senior official from the U.S. Department of Justice warned about the dangerous impact of a government shutdown on cybersecurity defense. Congress voted, and the government shutdown was averted; the bill awaits Joe Biden's signature.