"To avoid the risk of a costly and unnecessary government shutdown, the House should follow the Senate's lead and pass a bipartisan spending bill," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a letter to Democrats.
A bipartisan group of senators in the US Senate is working together at the request of President Joe Biden to pass a temporary spending bill that would maintain funding for federal agencies until the new fiscal year agreements take effect on October 1, Reuters reported.
US Capitol Building (Photo: Reuters)
The Senate has so far stuck to the $1.59 trillion spending proposal that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to this past spring, but some hard-line House conservatives are pushing for a lower spending cut.
Last week, the White House called on the US Congress to pass a short-term bill to maintain funding for the government before September 30, otherwise the US government will face the risk of the fourth shutdown in just over a decade.
Some Republicans have dismissed the risk of a government shutdown, saying it would be difficult to reach consensus on deeper spending cuts to tackle the $31.4 trillion national debt.
Democratic and Republican senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee have backed 12 separate spending bills that would fund most government operations through fiscal year 2024. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee is pushing other bills that are supported only by Republicans.
Even within House Republicans, there are differences of opinion on issues ranging from more emergency aid to Ukraine to the size of government spending.
Unlike spending battles in the United States in recent years, the Senate has made clear its desire to pass a stopgap bill and present a consistent position to House Republicans in negotiations, which could last into December, on longer-term bills.
Previously, in May, the US also faced the risk of default for the first time in history when the House of Representatives delayed passing a decision to raise the public debt ceiling.
Kong Anh (Source: Reuters)
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