The future of the US temporary funding agreement is uncertain. The government's "shutdown" crisis highlights the failure of American style democracy
There are only about two weeks left until the start of the new fiscal year for the US federal government on October 1st. However, not only is the budget for the 2024 fiscal year far from passing in Congress, but even the temporary funding bill to prevent the US federal government from shutting down on October 1st is still stuck in the House of Representatives.
On September 17th, some Republicans in the United States House of Representatives announced that an agreement had been reached within the Republican Party regarding temporary funding to the federal government. However, to avoid government shutdown, there is still a long way to go.
According to the Washington Post, some Republicans in the House of Representatives have announced a temporary funding agreement that will keep federal government funds running until October 31st, while also demanding an additional 1% reduction in government spending during this period. This reduction is the average for each department, except for the US Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, other departments and agencies must immediately reduce spending by about 8%.
The agreement retains most of the content of a border and immigration control bill passed by House Republicans earlier this year, and also requires the House to include border and immigration control provisions when considering funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Reuters reported that the agreement did not include President Biden's support for Ukraine.
US media: There is still uncertainty about whether the temporary funding agreement can pass
The Washington Post and Reuters analyzed that although many Republican congressmen involved in the negotiations expect the agreement to gain more than half of the support in the House of Representatives, the Republican Party's current seat advantage in the House of Representatives is weak, and there is further uncertainty due to factors such as illness or childcare among some members. Democrats are not expected to accept the conservative policy provisions on immigration in the agreement.
On the 18th, House Speaker and Republican McCarthy announced that he will submit the temporary funding agreement to the House of Representatives for review this week, but he acknowledged that there is still a "long way to go" to avoid the government's "shutdown.".
Even if the agreement involves passing through the House of Representatives, it is expected that the Democratic controlled Senate will veto multiple conservative policy provisions. This could lead to a tug of war between the two houses of Congress, with enormous pressure to reach a compromise by the end of this month and avoid a government shutdown.
The government's "shutdown" crisis highlights the failure of American style democracy
The formal bill cannot be passed, and the temporary bill is also blocked, making the game between the two parties in the United States on budget issues increasingly fierce. American media reporters commented that chaos and infighting have made things worse.
The New York Times website commented on the 15th that the United States is currently facing a crisis of government shutdown and congressional paralysis.
The report stated, "It has been proven that restoring order on Capitol Hill is too difficult. The government's shutdown is imminent, and the anger between the two parties is growing. Political institutions are filled with intense partisan struggles, huge differences, distrust, and non compromise."
ABC
The original intention of Congress to manage the "money bag" was to restrict government spending at will, but it has increasingly become a tool and bargaining chip for both parties to seek their own political interests. As depicted in this cartoon, the crisis of the US government's "shutdown" demonstrates the "incompetence" of Congress, which is the failure of American democracy.
In recent decades, escalating party disputes have led to 21 shutdowns by the US government. Reuters commentary suggests that politicians repeatedly pushing the United States into a dangerous situation is constantly damaging its credibility, as evidenced by Fitch's downgrade of its credit rating earlier last month.
