ZCZC
BFF-09
US-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-BUDGET
Trump signs stopgap funding, avoiding government shutdown
WASHINGTON, Nov 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump on Thursday
signed a temporary spending bill that averts a government shutdown, after the
Senate approved the one-month measure hours before federal funding was to
expire at midnight.
The short-term bill only funds federal operations until December 20,
meaning Congress will be forced to once again debate and pass fiscal year
2020 funding during a period of high tension in Washington.
The so-called continuing resolution passed the Senate by a vote of 74 to
20 after the House approved it earlier this week.
Congress has been unable to secure a long-term deal. Democrats and
Republicans have negotiated for months, but they remain at odds over funding
of Trump’s long-sought wall on the US border with Mexico, among other issues.
With Washington consumed by the Trump impeachment inquiry, lawmakers have
expressed concern about the ability to finalize a deal in the run-up to the
Christmas break.
But top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said shortly before Thursday’s vote
that he hopes Trump, who has injected himself into budget negotiations
before, “stays out of our way and gives Congress the space to work together
and find an agreement.”
The measure gives the US military a 3.1 percent pay raise, funds the 2020
census and keeps critical public health programs going for another month.
Two government shutdowns have occurred during Trump’s administration,
including a 35-day shutdown from late 2018 to early 2019 — the longest in US
history — over disagreements on border security.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0919 hrs