Temporary Budget Approved to Prevent U.S. Government Shutdown in House of Representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to fund government operations for the next three months, which has now gone to the Senate. If the Senate approves it and it is signed by the President, the risk of a federal government shutdown at midnight Saturday (Washington time) will be averted. On Friday evening, December 30, the House members passed the new version of the bill with 366 votes in favor and 34 against. It is expected that this bill will also be approved in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority. According to the Associated Press, the Senate's Friday evening session has other items on its agenda, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that members of both parties have agreed to vote on the temporary budget that same evening. He also mentioned that President Joe Biden's signature will likely come after the legal deadline, but due to the weekend holiday, this will not affect government operations. Based on the bill passed by the House, federal government expenses will be funded until March 14, 2025. This budget allocates $100 billion to storm-affected states and $10 billion to farmers, but the 'debt ceiling' has not been raised. Donald Trump, the elected president, has called for the debt ceiling (the maximum amount the government can borrow to provide services) to be suspended for two years. Last week, members of both parties in the House reached an agreement on the three-month budget and preventing a federal government shutdown, and the plan was supposed to be voted on Wednesday. However, Donald Trump and his close advisor, Elon Musk, urged representatives to set aside that plan and draft a new budget, claiming that it contained too many 'unrelated provisions.' The new plan was voted on in the House on Thursday evening but failed to pass due to significant opposition, including from 38 Republican representatives. The agreed budget supported by Trump was rejected in the House, raising the possibility of a government shutdown. According to Reuters, one of the provisions removed from this version concerned investment restrictions in China, which Democrats claimed conflicted with Musk's interests in China. Elon Musk, the world's richest person, has been appointed by Donald Trump as one of two co-chairs of a special task force for productivity and budgeting but holds no official position. The final version that was approved by the House on Friday evening is similar to the initial proposal. If the government and Congress do not reach an agreement on the annual budget bill, temporary budget plans serve as a way to prevent the shutdown of federal agencies. Failure to pass a temporary budget and a federal government shutdown could send hundreds of thousands of federal workers and employees on unpaid leave, close national parks, and disrupt activities at border areas and airports. The last federal government shutdown occurred on December 22, 2018, due to disputes between Donald Trump's administration and Congress over border security, resulting in federal agencies being closed for 35 days.