By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-16 21:44:55 | Updated at 2024-12-17 00:40:37
3 hours ago
Republican and Democratic negotiators in the US Congress are closing in on a deal for a stopgap bill to fund the government until March 14, averting a partial shutdown that would otherwise begin on Saturday, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.
The measure would probably keep the roughly US$6.2 trillion federal budget running at its current level, funding everything from the military to air traffic controllers to federal securities regulators at their current level.
It is expected to include an extension of the farm bill, an omnibus package passed every five years, a Republican Senate aide said. The stopgap measure is needed because Congress failed to pass its 12 annual appropriations bills in time for the current financial year, which began on October 1.
The government’s “mandatory” programmes – which include Social Security and Medicare retirement and healthcare benefits and represent about two-thirds of the budget – renew automatically.
Congress’ failure to address the gap between federal revenue and spending has contributed to the rising national debt – currently north of US$36 trillion. Congress will have to address that again early next year, when a 2023 deal to extend the nation’s “debt ceiling” expires. Failure could shock bond markets with potentially severe economic consequences.
Democrats had pushed for a longer bill, funding the government through the end of its current financial year, which ends on September 30.
