Biden signs temporary spending bill averting US government shutdown
17 November 2023, 07:54
The fight over the federal budget has now been pushed into the new year.
US President Joe Biden has signed a temporary spending bill a day before a potential government shutdown.
The move pushes a fight with congressional Republicans over the federal budget into the new year, and wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel remains stalled.
The measure passed the US house and senate by wide bipartisan margins this week, ensuring the government remains open until after the holiday season.
It also potentially giving legislators more time to sort out their considerable differences over government spending levels for the current fiscal year.
Mr Biden signed the bill in San Francisco, where he is hosting the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation economies.
News of the signing came late at night. Mr Biden signed the bill at the Legion of Honour Museum, where he held a dinner for APEC members.
The spending package keeps US government funding at current levels for roughly two more months while a long-term package is negotiated.
It splits the deadlines for passing full-year appropriations bills into two dates: January 19 for some federal agencies, and February 2 for others, creating two dates when there will be a risk of a partial government shutdown.
The world is different than it was 30 years ago at the first APEC meeting.
The questions we must answer today are about how we lift up working people, build climate resilience, and set up our economies for success.
Those are the ideas behind the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. pic.twitter.com/nE3Q77pf6B
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 17, 2023
The two-step approach was championed by new house speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and was not favoured by many in the senate, though all but one Democrat and 10 Republicans supported it because it ensured the government would not shut down for now.
Mr Johnson has vowed that he will not support any further stopgap funding measures, known as continuing resolutions. He portrayed the temporary funding bill as setting the ground for a spending “fight” with the senate next year.
The spending bill does not include the White House’s nearly 106 billion-dollar (£85.4 billion) request for wartime aid for Israel and Ukraine.
Nor does it provide humanitarian funding for Palestinians and other supplemental requests, including money for border security.
Legislators are likely to turn their attention more fully to that request after the American Thanksgiving holiday in hopes of negotiating a deal.
