US President Joe Biden signed a bill to fund the federal government, a plan that does not include additional aid to Israel and Ukraine, the White House said.
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“On Thursday, November 16, the President approved a law <…> that provides for the allocation of appropriations to federal agencies for the 2024 fiscal year until January 19, 2024,” a publication on the American administration’s website says.
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Due to inter-party disagreements, Congress cannot agree on the adoption of a permanent budget, so temporary ones are adopted over and over again. Another compromise initiative introduced by House Speaker Mike Johnson does not provide for the $106 billion requested by the administration for aid to Ukraine and Israel, which Democrats insist on, but does not contain budget cuts that Republicans are seeking.
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The bill is designed to prevent a shutdown—a stop in the work of federal government agencies due to missing the deadline set for adopting a budget. The document provides for two-stage funding: for part of the programs related to transport, energy and military construction, money will be allocated until mid-January, for other government sectors – until early February.
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Previously, the project was supported by the Senate, and the House of Representatives approved the document on November 14.
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In turn, the issue of assistance to Ukraine and Israel will have to be considered separately. Biden requested $106 billion for this, but did not receive unequivocal support in Congress. The Republican-majority House voted to allocate aid only to Israel, but the Democratic-controlled Senate blocked the initiative. Biden has already stated that he will not sign a bill allocating aid only to Israel without Ukraine if Congress approves such a document.
