KUALA LUMPUR – The US House of Representatives today passed a stopgap spending bill, a temporary measure that keeps the government running at current funding levels while lawmakers negotiate a longer-term budget – narrowly avoiding a government shutdown just hours before the deadline, according to Xinhua.
The bill, passed with a vote of 366-34, extends funding until mid-March and includes US$100 billion for disaster relief and US$10 billion in aid for farmers with all 34 votes against the bill coming from Republicans.
The situation became tense earlier this week when President-elect Donald Trump intervened at the last minute, rejecting a 1,500-page bipartisan proposal introduced by lawmakers.
The original plan included disaster and farmer aid but did not address Trump’s demand for stricter terms, such as raising the debt ceiling. Calling it “a giveaway to Democrats,” Trump pushed for changes that aligned more closely with his priorities.
In response, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leaders scrambled to draft a revised 116-page bill. The new version retained key funding measures but removed some provisions from the bipartisan plan while meeting Trump’s demand to extend the national debt limit to January 30, 2027.
Even with Trump’s backing, the revised bill initially failed to pass, as some conservative Republicans opposed raising the borrowing limit, and Democrats refused to concede to Trump’s demands.
After hours of intense negotiations, both sides reached a compromise just six hours before the government was set to shut down. – December 21, 2024