US Senate begins consideration of bill to prevent shutdown, with almost US$6 billion for Ukraine
The US Senate has taken under consideration a bipartisan bill to provide additional funding for the government after the end of the month, which includes almost US$6 billion for Ukraine.
Source: Reuters, European Pravda
Details: The bill aims to prevent a government shutdown in October.
The senators supported the start of debate on the bill by 77 votes to 19, which would provide funding for the government until 17 November. It sets aside US$6 billion for disaster response in the US, as well as almost US$6 billion in assistance for Ukraine.
Before that, the Senate debated whether to include funds for Ukraine in the bill so that Republicans in the House of Representatives, who are sceptical of supporting Ukraine, would not reject it for this reason, while time is running out to pass the law and avoid a government shutdown.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has put forward several bills that reflect conservative priorities and have no chance of becoming law. The agency notes that if approved, they would only fund a part of important needs and would not prevent a shutdown.
If it does come to a federal government shutdown, it would be the fourth such case in a decade.
The White House on Tuesday called on Republican representatives to put aside their ambitions in order to keep the country running.
"House Republicans should join the Senate in doing their job, stop playing political games with peoples' lives, and abide by the bipartisan deal two-thirds of them voted for in May," said White House spokesperson Karin Jean-Pierre.
The US State Department has emphasised that Washington is able to continue to provide military and security assistance to Kyiv even in the event of a temporary government shutdown.
Earlier, Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said he would keep assistance to Ukraine in the Pentagon funding bill, despite his previous words about his intention to withdraw the funds.
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