The US Congress 'races' before midnight to help the government avoid the risk of shutdown
Mar 23, 2024
Washington [US], March 23: Part of the US government, including units of the Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Justice, Department of State, and Department of Treasury, will close at midnight March 22 (11 a.m. March 23, Vietnam time), if the budget allocation bill is not passed in time, according to Reuters.
The Republican- controlled House of Representatives passed the bill with 286 votes in favor and 134 votes against. The bill is being considered for passage by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The passage of the bill has caused major conflicts within the Republican Party and put House Speaker Mike Johnson at risk of losing his job.
The hard-line conservative Republican House of Representatives does not agree with this bill. The bill was passed with the support of 185 Democratic House members and 101 Republican House members.
In October 2023, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also lost his job after a group of conservative lawmakers in his party reacted angrily for passing a temporary budget to help the government escape the risk of shutdown.
Previously, Mr. McCarthy had to go through many rounds of voting to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in January 2023. At that time, Mr. McCarthy gave in, agreeing to restore the right for any member of the party in the House of Representatives to make a motion to vote to remove the chairman.
Conservative Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on March 22 announced the process to remove Mr. Johnson from office but said she would not call for a vote immediately.
In the Senate, majority leader Chuck Schumer is calling on colleagues to quickly pass the bill before the deadline. "Let's get the job done today, avoid a shutdown, even if it's just for the weekend. There's no reason to delay," Mr. Schumer said. President Joe Biden said he will sign it if the bill is passed by Congress. The last time the US government partially shut down was in late 2018 to early 2019, when Donald Trump was still president.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
