If a shutdown were to occur, it would mean temporary unemployment for hundreds of thousands of civil servants and the freezing of several social benefits.
The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected the Republican bill to fund the US government. The aim of the proposal was to prevent the so-called shutdown, as a result of which government institutions could run out of funds on Friday evening and their operations would stop from the weekend, TASR informs, according to an AFP report.
The controversial legislation would suspend the nation’s debt limit during President-elect Donald Trump’s first two years in office and allow the federal government to be funded until mid-March, preventing government institutions from shutting down. Dozens of Republicans, however, rejected this approach and thus opposed the proposal of the package from the workshop of their own party. Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who will lead the planned commission called the Department for Government Efficiency, also expressed their support for the law.
The proposal’s rejection came after the newly elected president and Musk scuttled a budget deal negotiated in Congress between Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday. The revised version was considered in an accelerated process requiring two-thirds support, which it did not get.
“That… proposal is not serious, it is laughable. Republicans are pushing us to shut down the government,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said before the vote. The White House called the proposal a “gift to billionaires,” according to AFP.
Republicans are likely to try again to craft another stripped-down version of the budget deal, though party leadership has so far offered no clear vision.
If the shutdown were to happen, it would mean temporary unemployment for hundreds of thousands of state employees, the freezing of several social benefits and even the closing of some day care centers. This is an extremely unpopular situation – especially in connection with the approaching Christmas.
From January 2025, Republicans will control both houses of Congress and the White House. They then plan to quickly pass legislation on key issues such as migrant deportations, oil extraction and tax cuts, anchoring the president-elect’s priorities.