The US Senate has passed a package to fund federal agencies until December 11, preventing a partial government shutdown due to a lack of funds, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The agency described the vote as unusual. Usually, the Senate or the House of Representatives sabotage the adoption of the budget until the beginning of the fiscal year (October 1) in order to squeeze concessions. This time, the Senate approved the funding almost two months in advance and did so almost unanimously - by a vote of 90 "yes" to 6 "no".
The agency explains that the Senate's decision will avoid a government shutdown before the November midterm elections. In the past year, the federal government has twice faced unprecedentedly long periods of funding shortages. Given that experience, senators from both parties may have decided not to anger voters before a crucial election, the agency writes.
Among the concessions won by opposition Democrats are the lack of clear guarantees of new funding for the Border Patrol and the refusal to allocate $1 billion for the development of “Trump”-class naval ships, as the White House wants. The Senate budget bill must be approved by the House of Representatives, which returns from its summer recess on August 31. Approval in the lower house of Congress is expected to be easy due to its near-unanimous approval in the Senate and the upcoming midterm elections.