Washington [US], December 20: Republicans in the US Congress reached a consensus on a new spending package and voted to avert a government shutdown on December 21. However, updated results show that the bill has not been passed.
"We have reached an agreement," Reuters on December 20 quoted Republican Congressman Tom Cole, Chairman of the House Budget Appropriations Committee, telling reporters about a new solution to prevent the US government from shutting down in the near future.
The new package would fund the government for three months until President-elect Donald Trump takes over the White House and Republicans take control of both houses of Congress, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
The proposal also includes $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in aid for agriculture and related activities.
The deal also suspends the debt ceiling until January 2027, meaning trillions of dollars will be added to the current $36 trillion federal debt.
The new Republican proposal has received support from Mr. Trump. Previously, the President-elect voiced his opposition to the bipartisan agreement, causing Republican lawmakers to unexpectedly reject the bill to prevent a government shutdown on December 18 before the vote.
Despite Mr Trump's support, Democrats in Congress immediately rejected the new proposal from Republican lawmakers as "unserious" and "ridiculous".
Currently, Republicans control the House of Representatives by a 219-211 margin, making it unlikely the bill will pass if Democrats unite to reject it.
Update: The US House of Representatives rejected a bill to maintain temporary spending budget for the US government, after Republican leaders withdrew from the previous bipartisan agreement and made adjustments because President-elect Donald Trump objected. The result of the vote on the evening of December 19 local time (morning of December 20 Vietnam time) was 174-235, not reaching the number of votes in favor needed for the bill to pass. Despite Mr. Trump's support, 38 Republican congressmen voted against, and only 2 Democratic congressmen voted in favor.
That means the US government is approaching the threshold of a temporary shutdown from December 21.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper