US Congress avoids government shutdown and passes $1.2 trillion bill

The US Congress overwhelmingly approved this Saturday a $1.2 trillion budget bill, which maintains government funding during the fiscal year that began six months ago and will be sent to the President of the United States Joe Biden, sanctioning and avoiding a partial strike.

The votes in favor were 74 and 24 against.

Major federal agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury, which house the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service, will remain funded through September 30, following the approval of the bill in the Senate, with a Democratic majority.

But the measure did not include funding for much of the military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel, which is included in a different bill passed by the Senate and ignored by the Republican-led House of Representatives.

The business community welcomed the passage of the spending bill and pledged to continue working with authorities to advance legislation that improves tax incentives for businesses and low-income families.

Senate leaders spent hours Friday negotiating a series of amendments to the budget bill that were ultimately rejected. The delay ended up running past the Friday deadline at midnight local time.

But the White House Office of Management and Budget released a statement saying the agencies will not be forced to close, expressing confidence that the Senate will pass the bill promptly, which it did.

As Congress debated the bill, deep partisan divisions once again emerged, as did bitter disagreements within the House’s narrow and fractured Republican majority. Conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to force a vote to recall House Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Republican, for allowing the measure to pass.

The 1,012-page bill provides $886 billion in funding for the Defense Department, including an increase for U.S. troops. Biden, a Democrat, has indicated he will approve it.