The upper house of the US Congress belatedly supported a bill to temporarily extend funding for the federal government, allowing a formal shutdown, according to the results of the vote, which was broadcast by the C-Span television channel.
⠀
The shutdown countdown began at midnight Washington time, but the suspension of the work of federal authorities remains formal, since the government is now on holidays.
⠀
Prior to this, the House of Representatives passed the bill. Now the document will be sent to current US President Joe Biden for signature. He has already stated that he will support the new draft law.
⠀
The vote was preceded by back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats after the interim budget failed to gain enough support in the House on Thursday.
⠀
Republican Donald Trump, who won the US presidential election, previously demanded that the Democratic Party eliminate the national debt ceiling or significantly increase its level, linking this issue with the approval of the draft interim budget. The current administration viewed this as an order to Republicans to enforce a government shutdown.
⠀
According to the International Monetary Fund, the level of US government debt will reach 121% of US GDP by the end of 2024, and in 2029 it will reach 131.7% of GDP. During Joe Biden’s presidency, the US national debt has grown from $28 trillion in 2021 to an unprecedented level of more than $36 trillion this year.
⠀
Simultaneously with calls to abandon restrictions on the level of borrowing, Trump is going to establish a department in his administration to achieve government efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, who publicly threatens the United States with bankruptcy due to the situation with the national debt.
⠀
The American government has been shut down 21 times since 1976, when the current budget reconciliation process was approved in the country, and the longest shutdown occurred during the first administration of Donald Trump and lasted 35 days from the end of 2018 to 2019.
