Washington, Dec 21 (IANS) US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation funding the federal government until mid-March saying this is “good news for the American people, especially as families gather to celebrate this holiday season”.
The bill was first passed by the House of Representatives on Friday evening, ending days of uncertainty triggered by President-elect Donald Trump’s directive to Republican lawmakers to abandon an earlier bipartisan plan and his demand for suspension of the debt ceiling.
The House had voted down the bill sought by him, with many Republicans voting with Democrats.
The House passed legislation without Trump’s demanded clause and the Senate approved it just past midnight, sending it to the White House.
“This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted. But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity,” Biden said, adding: “That’s good news for the American people, especially as families gather to celebrate this holiday season.”
Significant parts of the US federal government had faced shutdown if a funding plan was not legislated by Friday-Saturday midnight. After the fiscal year ended on September 30, a temporary plan was legislated to keep the government funded till Friday-Saturday midnight.
A shutdown would have impacted most of the federal government, but not all.
Exceptions are made for “essential” services such as law enforcement and air traffic controllers and those that are fee-funded, such as visa services of the state department and certain operations of the citizenship and immigration department.
Essential service workers will not be paid, however, till a spending bill is approved by the Congress. All other employees will be forced to stay home without pay.
It has been averted for now with a spending plan that keeps the federal government funded till mid-March, sets aside $100 billion for disaster relief and $10 billion for farms.
–IANS
yrj/pgh
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
