Joe Biden signs stopgap funding bill to prevent shutdown in US, cites critical needs

US President Joe Biden on Thursday, 30 September, signed Congress’ stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown and extend funding through 3 December. According to CNN, the bill passed the House and Senate with a bipartisan vote. After signing the measure, in a statement, Biden said that the bill meets the “critical and urgent” needs of the nation, adding that there’s so much more to do. 

“But the passage of this bill reminds us that bipartisan work is possible and it gives us time to pass longer-term funding to keep our government running and delivering for the American people,” Biden added. 

The short-term government funding bill will now keep federal agencies open through early December and it will stave off a partial government shutdown. The stopgap bill, also known as a continuing resolution, passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote of 65 to 35, overcoming the 60-vote threshold needed for approval. It was then taken to the House, which cleared the bill by a 254-175 margin. Biden then signed the bill into law in the Oval Office. 

This comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that an agreement had been reached on the continuing resolution. While calling it “good news”, Schumer had said that the resolution will eliminate the possibility of a government shutdown. Further, he also added that in addition to funding the government until 3 December, the stopgap bill will provide funding to help process and resettle Afghan refugees and finally deliver on “critical disaster aid” for Americans battered by storm and wildfires this summer. 

‘Devastating’ impact of debt default 

Now, even though the latest measure averts one fiscal crisis, it, however, still leaves unanswered the need for Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling. It is imperative to note that US lawmakers still need to raise or suspend the government borrowing limit before 18 October in a bid to prevent a possible default on US debt that would result in job losses, economic damage and a drop in the stock market. 

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the US would exhaust extraordinary measures allowing the government to pay its bill on 18 October. She warned that inaction by Congress to raise the debt limit would send the nation into default for the first time in its history, triggering widespread economic chaos. Yelled said that the interest payments of ordinary Americans on their mortgages and on their cars and on their credit cards would also go up if the debt ceiling is not raised. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also warned that it was “essential” to raise the government’s borrowing limit and the consequences of not doing so “could be severe”. He told the lawmakers that he agreed with Yellen’s assertion that should the US default on its deal, it would have “devastating consequences”. He said it is essential to raise the borrowing limit in time to avoid payment defaults of any kind. 

(Image: Twitter)