2023-10-01 21:32:09
Washington ∙ The funding bill, which was in crisis after a sharp disagreement between the Republican and Democratic parties, was passed. If the bill was not passed by 12 midnight on Saturday, there would have been an administrative crisis, and the House of Representatives passed the bill that afternoon. With the passing of the bill to allocate money for the expenditure of the federal government, the crisis including suspension of salaries for 40 lakh government employees has been avoided. In the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, Speaker Kevin McCarthy overcame fierce opposition from his own party and with the help of Democrats passed the bill (335–91). In the Democrat-majority Senate, 88 voted in favor and 9 against.
The bill was passed by reducing aid to Ukraine and increasing disaster aid by $1.6 billion. The money has been allocated till November 17. The days-long dispute was resolved when Speaker McCarthy rejected the tough demands of his own party members when the government was about to shut down. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently visited the US, leaders from both parties offered help. President Joe Biden said the US cannot abandon Ukraine at a critical juncture and will seek ways to continue aid.
Fire alarm during voting
The sounding of the fire alarm during the funding bill voting in the US Congress caused concern. The fire alarm went off in the Cannon House office building on Saturday afternoon. The police immediately evacuated all the people and conducted a search. As there was nothing dangerous, after an hour all the members were brought back to the House and voting continued. An investigation found that Republican Party member Jamal Bauman pulled the fire alarm. Bauman said the door was opened accidentally in a rush to vote and was not an attempt to disrupt the vote. The incident is under investigation.
English Summary: Funding Bill passed; Governance crisis averted in US
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