Biden Administration Behind the Congress Wall

Biden Administration Behind the Congressional Wall

According to Iran Gate, with just a few hours remaining, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to prevent a government shutdown, and President Biden signed it before the deadline at midnight on November 30. This law includes more domestic aid for internal issues and incidents, but no financial assistance for Ukraine is considered.

Congress barely managed to prevent a government shutdown on Saturday, as the House of Representatives, in a surprising turn, passed a temporary budget plan to avoid a government shutdown until mid-November. After the Senate’s approval, President Biden signed the bill.

A coalition of Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to pass a plan that maintains the flow of funds to government agencies and provides billions of dollars to address incidents, events, and natural disasters.

Despite pressure from the White House and members of both parties in the Senate for Ukraine, this bill included no financial aid. Nonetheless, House Democrats accepted the plan, considering it the best available solution to avoid widespread disruption in the government.

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Speaker of the House, who had for weeks rejected calls to work with Democrats to resolve spending issues, outlined the Republican proposal in a closed-door meeting on Saturday and then hurriedly brought it to the House floor under a special bill.

Democrats were initially unhappy that Mr. McCarthy presented this plan without informing them and was trying to get them to pass the 71-page bill without sufficient review. However, they did not want to be accused of prioritizing U.S. aid to Ukraine over keeping government agencies open and paying two million military members and one and a half million federal employees. Mike Lawler, a Republican representative from New York, asked Democrats on the House floor, ‘Are you telling me that if there’s no budget for Ukraine, you’ll shut down the government?’

In the end, however, it was a large number of his Republican colleagues who voted for the government shutdown. The plan was approved with 335 votes in favor and 91 against. This result was similar to the earlier vote this year to suspend the federal debt limit and could create problems for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as a far-right faction had threatened to remove him from the speakership if he cooperated with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown.

But after unsuccessful efforts on Friday to gain enough Republican votes to prevent a government shutdown, Mr. McCarthy had no choice but to cooperate with Democrats if he wanted to avoid a politically and economically destructive shutdown. He presented the bill to the House floor without assurance of its passage, saying, ‘I like to gamble.’

The House of Representatives immediately referred the final approval of the bill to the Senate after the vote and assigned the responsibility of accepting this resolution to the Senate. Despite several alternative options, Senate Republicans tried to pass the House bill, and the Senate set aside its resolution, which included $6 billion in aid for Ukraine, and approved the House version with 88 votes in favor and 9 against.

Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat and Majority Leader, said about three hours before the deadline after the Senate vote, ‘The American people can breathe a sigh of relief. There will be no government shutdown. After trying to hold our government hostage, extreme Republicans gained nothing.’

Joe Biden, in a statement after the bill passed in the Senate, called it ‘good news for the American people.’ He added, ‘I fully expect the Speaker to uphold his commitment to the people of Ukraine and ensure the necessary support is passed to help Ukraine in this critical moment.’

Members of both parties said they are confident they can provide the necessary support for Ukraine in the coming weeks. However, the lack of funding in this bill reflects the waning support from Republicans for increasing the budget for Kyiv. Congress has approved about $113 billion in humanitarian, military, and economic aid in four support packages since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Joe Biden has requested an additional $24 billion.

Mike Quigley, an Illinois representative and the only Democrat who voted against the bill, said, ‘This bill is a victory for Putin and his supporters.’ He added, ‘I voted no because this bill does not include financial aid for Ukraine. We now have 45 days to correct this glaring mistake.’ Far-right Republicans refused to support the temporary budget bill because it maintained budget levels set when Congress was under Democratic control last year.

Andy Biggs, a Republican representative from Arizona, wrote on the social network X, ‘Kevin McCarthy today stood with 209 Democrat representatives to continue a bill that maintained Biden-Pelosi-Schumer spending levels and policies instead of standing with his own party. He allowed the united Democratic Party to win again. Should he remain Speaker of the House?’

A significant number of Republicans refused to support this bill, which omitted strict immigration restrictions that many of them demanded. Before the vote, Kevin McCarthy said he recognized that this bill might challenge his job, but said he was willing to risk it to pass a bill that wouldn’t stop the government and would prevent its shutdown. Matt Gaetz, a Republican representative from Florida, was one of those who threatened to remove Mr. McCarthy, believing McCarthy’s speech was very weak.

In the end, Democrats were very satisfied with the outcome. Hakeem Jeffries, a New York representative and Democratic leader, said while heading to vote on the bill, ‘Extreme Republicans have failed, and the American people have won.’ Saturday was full of ups and downs at the Capitol Hill building.

While House Democrats blocked Mr. McCarthy’s plan to study and review it, fire alarm bells rang in the office building, forcing an evacuation. It was later revealed that Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic representative from New York, had triggered the alarm, although he claimed it was accidental.

Despite intense efforts, the temporary budget bill is only a temporary solution to the spending battle, likely to be quickly revived. Both the House and Senate are trying to pass year-long spending bills, and House Republicans have canceled the October recess to focus on the temporary budget bill, but there is still a significant gap between the two parties and the two houses.

House Republicans demand significant spending cuts, cessation of aid to Ukraine, and immigration restrictions to stop the wave of asylum seekers crossing the southern border at the cost of any agreement. Senators from both parties argue that Congress should adhere to the higher budget levels set in the agreement and negotiations between Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy earlier this year, and they support continued aid to Ukraine.

Before the sudden turn of events on Saturday, federal agencies were preparing to shut down in case the temporary budget bill was not passed. The armed forces and other so-called essential employees, such as air traffic and airport security staff, would remain on the job but without pay until the deadlock was resolved. Food and medical aid for millions of low-income mothers and children was also at risk.

The biggest obstacle to passing the bill was that the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a small minority, is in the grip of a far-right faction that has clearly shown its willingness, perhaps even eagerness, to shut down to convey its message that Washington is bankrupt and federal spending is out of control. This group refused to support any plan that even temporarily prevents federal budget cuts.

Kevin McCarthy, facing a choice between a shutdown and the far-right, again leaned on Democrats to escape the crisis. Before the House vote, McCarthy said, ‘What I want is for both Republicans and Democrats to put aside their partisanship and focus on the American people.’