The US Congress has once again delayed the shutdown.

The US Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill to provide short-term government funding until March. The document averted a government shutdown, the threat of which loomed over the country for the third time since October.

The US Congress passed a bill to continue funding the federal government until March, allowing the country to once again avert a government shutdown.

In the Senate (the upper house of Congress), controlled by Democrats, 77 congressmen voted in favor of the document, with 18 against. In the House of Representatives, where the Republicans have a majority, 314 of the 435 members supported the bill, with 108 against.

The bill extended temporary funding for programs in agriculture, nutrition, transportation, housing, energy, military construction, and veterans' support from January 19 to March 1. Funding deadlines for other programs and government agencies, including the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, were extended from February 2 to March 8.

Why the US Congress Can't Agree on a Permanent Budget

The US Congress has been unable to pass a government budget since last fall due to significant differences in views between the Democratic and Republican parties, each of which controls one chamber of Congress. Back in May, the Biden administration and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to raise the debt ceiling, thereby avoiding default, and also agreed on a total budget for the next fiscal year of $1.59 trillion.

The new US fiscal year begins on October 1, and by September 30, Congress had to pass 12 bills providing funding for various government programs and agencies. However, the most radical members of the Republican Party disagreed with the total annual budget agreed upon by McCarthy and the White House, insisting on reducing it to the 2022 level of $1.47 trillion. The federal government  is the largest employer in the country, employing over 4 million Americans. A shutdown would have halted a significant portion of government programs and agencies, and approximately 1.5 million government employees would have been furloughed or forced to work without pay.

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At the very last minute, the US Congress managed to avoid a shutdown by passing a temporary budget resolution for the next 45 days, until November 17. However, the bill cost Kevin McCarthy his job: on October 3, 216 members of Congress, including eight Republicans, voted to remove him. The search for a new Speaker of the House complicated budget negotiations.

On October 25, Republicans finally succeeded in electing a new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, on their fourth try. However, the differences between Republicans and Democrats have not diminished: the former refused to agree on a budget, tying military aid to Ukraine and Israel to increased spending on securing the U.S. southern border, which is facing an unprecedented influx of migrants.

On November 14, Congress passed a "clean" resolution, excluding military aid to allies. The document provided for two-stage funding for government agencies and programs: some received funds by January 19, and others by February 2. By the end of the year, Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Johnson were close to a deal on the 2024 budget , but due to the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Congress went on recess.

On January 7, with the resumption of the US Congress, negotiations resumed and the parties reached an agreement setting the overall spending level at $1.59 trillion for fiscal year 2024. This includes $886 billion in defense spending and $704 billion in non-defense spending. Among the Democrats' key concessions, Johnson cited a $10 billion reduction in spending on the inflation reduction bill and a $6.1 billion reduction in the Biden administration's pandemic-era funds.covid-19 . Furthermore, according to the Speaker of the House, the deal will shift federal government funding priorities toward conservative goals, rather than last year's Democratic plan.

However, members of Congress were unable to review and pass all the necessary bills in the less than two weeks remaining before the latest deadline, so they were forced to adopt a temporary budget again—for the third time.

What will happen to military aid to Ukraine?

Because all temporary budgets passed by Congress do not include military aid to US allies, the Biden administration was forced to pause arms transfers to Ukraine. At the end of December 2023, the US allocated the final $250 million aid package to Ukraine.

The American president has requested $110.5 billion in emergency funding for national security needs, including military aid. The majority of this funding—approximately $60 billion—is earmarked for Ukraine. However, Republicans are still blocking the bill, demanding stricter immigration regulations in exchange due to the crisis at the American southern border. From January to November 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded over 2.2 million attempted illegal border crossings with Mexico.

Since October, the Biden administration has held several rounds of talks with members of Congress. The most recent meeting with representatives of both parties took place on January 17 and lasted several hours. The White House assessed the talks positively. "The president understands that... the immigration system as a whole has been broken for decades," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

As The Washington Post notes, the American president agreed to a number of concessions, but still refuses to fulfill one of the Republicans' key demands: limiting the practice of "parole" for migrants illegally entering the United States for humanitarian reasons. "I told the president what I've been saying for months, which is: we have to make changes at the border—significant changes in [immigration] policy," Johnson told reporters after talks at the White House. Democrats, meanwhile, are optimistic: Chuck Schumer estimated the chances of reaching a deal on aid to Ukraine at over 50%. "This is the first time I've been able to say that," the senator said following his meeting with Biden.