Trump signs six-month funding bill to government, threat of shutdown averted
New Delhi| US President Donald Trump has signed a bill to finance the government by the end of September, which has averted the threat of a government shutdown and ended the ongoing conflict in Congress. There was also visible division among Democrats on this issue.. White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields said in a post on X that Trump signed the continuing resolution.
In this bill, government financing has been broadly kept at the level prescribed during the presidency of Joe Biden. However, some changes have also been made in it. It cuts non-defense expenditures by about US$13 billion over the past year and increases defense expenditures by about US$6 billion, a slight change given the top spending level of about US$1.7 trillion. The Senate approved the bill Friday by a 54-46 party line vote, with 10 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus helping to pass the bill despite opposition within their party.
Senate Democrats debated for days whether to promote a shutdown, as Republicans in the House drafted and passed the spending measure without their input. Democrats said the legislation downplays healthcare, housing and other priorities and gives Trump complete latitude to redirect federal spending, and that his administration and government efficiency department are rapidly dismantling agencies and programs sanctioned by Congress.
In the end, most Democratic senators made the decision that shutting down the government would be worse than passing a funding bill. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the shutdown would give the Trump administration the ability to deem entire agencies, programs and personnel nonessential, and put employees on leave without any promise that they would be rehired.
“The shutdown will allow DOGE to operate without control”, Schumer said. Donald Trump and Elon Musk will be free to dismantle critical government services at a much faster pace” The passage of the funding bill through the House earlier in the week is a victory for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson. They managed to keep Republicans together and pass the bill without the support of Democrats.
