Biden Signs Temporary Budget to Avoid Shutdown, No Aid to Ukraine

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden signed a bill on short-term state funding to avoid a government shutdown, which does not stipulate funding to support either Ukraine or Israel. This was reported by the White House. The US Senate finally approved the package on Wednesday evening, about 48 hours before the deadline to the government shutdown at midnight Friday. The bill will extend funding for government operations through mid-January to early February. The bill extends funding till Jan. 19 for priority sectors such as military construction, veterans support, transportation, housing and energy. The rest of the government’s functions will be funded until 2 February. Biden has thus moved the struggle against Republicans in the US Congress over the federal budget into the new year. The spending bill does not include a White House request for nearly $106 billion covering aid to Israel and Ukraine. The combined package of bills, which includes aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and border reinforcement, is reportedly scheduled to be considered in the Senate after Thanksgiving, which will be celebrated in the US on 23 November. According to Republican Congressman Don Bacon, the House of Representatives as a whole already knows what to do with the Ukraine aid bill, as well as approximately how much money they want to allocate to Kyiv. He believes consideration could take place in December. Biden’s administration is urging Congress to approve the White House’s request for aid to Ukraine as soon as possible to prevent serious consequences for its defense capabilities.