U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rejected stopgap funding bill is risking pushing the US government to its fourth partial shutdown if an agreement is not reached tomorrow.
The House was supposed to be voting on amendments to four funding bills that have not yet been agreed. However, even all four being approved by Saturday may not prevent the looming partial shutdown.
If the US government enters a partial shutdown it will impact government services including national park management, economic reports and passport renewals. Federal workers may also face pay delays.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 77-19 on a measure that would fund the government through the 17th of November. Six billion USD for domestic disaster relief and six billion USD for Ukraine aid are included in the bill.
Ukraine funding is at the forefront of the differences between Democrats and Republicans and a new spending budget. The situation is likely to become increasingly frenetic as the clock ticks down and the US heads towards a shutdown.
“House Republicans should join the Senate in doing their job, stop playing political games with peoples’ lives, and abide by the bipartisan deal two-thirds of them voted for in May,” said Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a release.
Although tensions are rising in Washington, there is yet to be any major fallout in markets.
