The US Senate approved Monday night – in the early hours of Tuesday in Spain – A Budget law to end the government shutdownWhich actually lasted for more than forty days.
Voting took place after that … That Republicans – who control the majority in the Senate – reached an agreement with a handful of misguided Democrats to cancel the longest government shutdown in history, has a huge impact on the world’s leading power: hundreds of thousands of officials have remained at home since last October 1, and have not received their salaries for that period. Air traffic has become a national problem due to the absence of air traffic controllers. Tens of millions of people fear social welfare programs like food stamps.
Agree to The minimum budget law was approved. With 60 votes in favor – the minimum majority in the Senate – and 40 votes against. Seven Democratic senators and one independent — but who typically vote the same way as Democrats — joined practically all the Republican lawmakers (and only one of them, liberal Rand Paul, voted against).
“I’m very happy to say we’ve reached the end,” Republican Majority Leader John Thune said after the vote. The next step will be a vote in the House, where Republicans also have a majority and where their leaders are confident there will be no problems addressing it. Finally, The text will go to Donald Trump’s desk, and the US President confirmed on Monday that he would sign his signatureHe stressed that he supports this and that he “will respect the agreement” reached between the Republicans and that group of Democrats, which he described as “very good.” The government shutdown may mark history before this week is out.
Democrats’ claims
The agreement does not include the Democrats’ main demand that was behind the government shutdown: expanding support for health coverage, which Republicans refused to include. It includes a spending plan that extends the government’s ability to operate until the end of January It forces the employment of nearly 4,000 officials who were laid off during the lockdownWhich guarantees the payment of back wages and funds food stamps until September of next year.
The agreement includes a commitment from Republicans to put a text to a vote Expanding support for health coverage in the second week of Decembera few days before its expiration. But there are no guarantees that it will be approved, not even in the House of Representatives, where its leader, Mike Johnson, did not want to comment on the matter.
The majority of Democrats oppose the agreement, after they were subjected to pressure for weeks to abandon their demands, and they plunged the country into severe turmoil without achieving their goal. Some have described the transfer of that group of senators as a “betrayal” and a “terrible mistake.” Which will end the lockdown.
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