US Averts Administration Shutdown Again, At Least for a Week

The United States House of Representatives, which is predominantly under the control of the Republican party, has given their approval for a temporary procedure that is aimed at preventing the shutdown of the government. This measure has been put into place to ensure that the functioning of the administration continues unimpeded for a minimum of one more week.

The Senate, which is currently led by the Democratic party, is expected to give their approval for this temporary procedure in the near future, possibly as early as local time on Thursday.

However, despite these measures, the United States Congress is still struggling to pass a total of 12 bills that comprise the federal budget. With the current solution that has been proposed, the deadlines for six of these bills will be extended until March 8, while the remaining six will have their deadlines extended until March 22.

In a scenario where a government shutdown does occur, the first casualty would be the termination of federal funding for various sectors such as agriculture and transportation, amongst others. If a complete shutdown takes place, it would happen on March 7. This is one day after the scheduled date for President Joe Biden to deliver his state of the nation speech.

President Biden has taken the step of inviting congressional leaders for a joint meeting at the White House. This meeting, which is relatively rare, is set to take place on Tuesday. The aim of this meeting is to urge the congressional leaders to do everything within their power to pass both the budget and the aid package for Ukraine.