According to an insider, US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to find a compromise in the US budget dispute to avoid an imminent shutdown. A person familiar with the plans said today that he wants to pressure Republicans for a bill that would provide disaster relief. This could also be supported by Democrats.
The fronts have hardened between President Joe Biden’s Democrats and Republicans, as well as between the various Republican blocs in the House of Representatives. This means that the budget block for financing federal authorities and institutions is approaching.
If no progress is made by midnight (local time), hundreds of thousands of public employees in the world’s largest economy will face mandatory unpaid leave. Many offices, museums and national parks will then have to close, at least temporarily.
Both chambers of Congress must agree on the budget
To avoid the fourth shutdown in ten years – and the fifteenth since 1981 – both chambers of Congress must agree on a budget. Disagreements over the budget escalate regularly as the start of the new fiscal year approaches on October 1. But this time the situation is particularly precarious.
It is not just that there is a deep divide separating the two parties that is increasingly irreconcilable. A power struggle is also raging within the Republican Party between relatively moderate representatives and a small group of extreme conservative representatives in the House of Representatives. McCarthy is also under attack. So far he has been unable to convince senior conservatives in his party to cooperate.
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