By The Opinion
Sep 24, 2024, 10:16 PM EDT
The Joe Biden administration announced Tuesday its support for the latest proposal by Congressional Republicans for a measure to federal budget short-term, which greatly reduces the chances of a partial government shutdown before the presidential elections on November 5.
In a statement from the Office of Management and Budget, the White House applauded the funding bill for giving Congress “more time to complete full-year funding bills later this year that benefit America’s national defense, veterans, seniors, children, and working families, and address the urgent needs of the American people, including those in communities recovering from disaster.”
The statement is far from a resounding endorsement of the House Speaker’s proposal, Mike JohnsonRepublican from Louisiana.
The government criticized congressional Republicans for failing to include additional funding for disaster relief, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.
“The Administration is deeply disappointed that Congressional Republicans continue to block critical funding requested by the Administration to prevent severe disruptions to several critical government services, including effectively ceasing operations of the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program later this fall,” the White House said.
The White House also warned that it would oppose any funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the final appropriations legislation.
The bill, introduced by Johnson on Sunday after his original proposal failed to pass the GOP-controlled House, would fund the government through Dec. 20, rather than March 2025.
Does not include any part of the SAVE Acta controversial bill that would require voters to prove they are citizens before casting a ballot.
President Joe Biden and many congressional Democrats strongly opposed plans to include the SAVE Act in the government funding bill. But it was Johnson’s own caucus members who defeated his initial funding measure, when 14 House Republicans voted against it on Sept. 18.
The new proposal appears to defy the wishes of former President Donald Trump, who publicly called on congressional Republicans to shut down the government if the SAVE Act was left out of the funding bill.
Continue reading:
• Senate to introduce interim budget measure amid looming government shutdown
• The House failed to pass a federal budget bill
• Vance says GOP should threaten government shutdown