House of Representatives has not yet decided on how to avoid shutdown - NBC
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson (photo: Getty Images)
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have yet to reach a decision on how to avoid a government shutdown after November 17 when the temporary budget expires, according to NBC.
The new Speaker of the Republican Party, Mike Johnson, met with his team on Monday evening to consider their options for keeping the government open after the expiration of the short-term budget on November 17.
Last week, Johnson stated that he prefers to pass a resolution that would last until January 15, allowing the government to function during the holidays and giving both chambers more time to approve and reconcile all 12 funding bills.
However, during the closed-door meeting on Monday, Republican Party leaders also discussed the idea of phased, short-term temporary funding.
According to the latest proposal, Republicans would introduce three to four spending bills by December 7, and the rest of the spending bills would be considered separately by January 19.
Why was there a threat of a shutdown
In September, the threat of a government shutdown was linked to the position of ultra-conservative Republicans who were blocking the passage of budget bills for the next fiscal year, demanding cuts they considered excessive.
This included their opposition to providing additional aid to Ukraine. Until recently, the White House had been trying to secure at least a compromise of $6 billion for Ukraine by mid-November, but the initiative failed to garner enough votes.
At that time, the Biden administration sought approval for a larger package totaling over $40 billion, with around $24 billion earmarked for Ukraine. It's worth noting that Biden later proposed a $61.4 billion package, which has not been considered yet.
As a result, a temporary budget was approved from October 1 to November 17. If a further budget is not passed, the government faces the risk of another shutdown.
