New Delhi, November 14: This short term funding bill temporarily ends a shutdown that started in October and forced many government services to stop. About 1.4 million federal workers either stayed home without pay or kept working without salaries. The bill doesn’t solve the main argument in Congress.
The main disagreement is about healthcare spending. Democrats refused to support the Republican budget unless certain healthcare subsidies, which were about to expire, were renewed. Republicans wanted to talk about those subsidies separately, so nothing moved forward. Because of this, the shutdown caused problems across the country. Flights were delayed because federal staff were missing, and food benefits for 41 million low-income Americans were disrupted. These issues pushed both sides to accept a temporary fix.
Things changed when 8 Senate Democrats decided to break from their party and vote for the bill on Sunday. They agreed to support the plan only after getting a promise that the Senate would hold a vote in December on the healthcare subsidies they wanted to save. This helped end the shutdown for now, even though the main political fight still hasn’t been settled.
The new deal keeps the government funded until 30 January. It also gives full-year funding to the Department of Agriculture. It includes money for military construction and for legislative agencies so that essential work doesn’t stop. These parts of the deal help avoid major disruptions in areas that need stable funding.
The bill also guarantees that all federal employees will be paid for the time they missed during the shutdown. This helps prevent long-term financial problems for workers who went weeks without income. The package also includes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) until next September. Since SNAP helps one in eight Americans buy food, keeping it funded avoids major hardship for millions of families.
Another important part of the agreement is that the Senate will hold a vote in December on extending the healthcare subsidies Democrats have been fighting for. This promise made the temporary deal possible. The government is open again, but only for a short time. The main conflict still exists, and Congress will have to face it again once the temporary funding runs out.
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