The US Senate has once again rejected two bills proposed by Democrats and Republicans to restore the partially shut down federal government. The vote was broadcast on October 6 on C-SPAN.
The bill, drafted by Republicans and previously approved by the House of Representatives, received 52 votes “in favor“ and 42 “against“. The Democratic bill received 45 votes “in favor“ and 50 “against“. Approval in the upper house requires at least 60 votes.
Thus, senators have so far failed to pass a bill that would end the partial shutdown of the federal government in the United States. It began at midnight on October 1 due to a lack of funding. It came about after representatives of the ruling Republican and opposition Democratic parties in Congress could not agree on a number of spending items, including health care. They accuse each other of provoking the shutdown and prolonging it for political purposes.
According to American law, departments and agencies responsible for national security and foreign policy activities must continue to work during a suspension of funding by the federal government. Similar requirements apply to civil servants whose work is aimed at “protecting life and property“. Government employees forced to work under such conditions do not receive salaries, but their salaries are usually paid after the funding issue is resolved.
Since 1977, federal funding has been cut off more than 20 times due to disagreements between the administration and Congress. The longest period was 35 days – from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019 (during Donald Trump's first term as president).
Former U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who worked on the 2021 Capitol storming, monitored the private emails and phone calls of Republican senators, Fox News reported, citing an FBI document it had obtained access to.
“I am ashamed to stand on Capitol Hill and admit that the FBI once had the capacity and authority to monitor the private communications of American officials for political purposes,“ FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in an interview with Fox News, stating that such activity no longer occurs.
According to the network, Smith and his subordinates accessed the phone records of officials in 2023, when Joe Biden was president.