At the last minute of the weekend, the US Congress prevented a threatened government shutdown: just a few hours before the deadline, the Senate voted in favor of the bill with a bipartisan majority after the House of Representatives, averting a so-called shutdown. However, Ukraine is paying the price for the agreement. The interim budget adopted on Saturday evening does not include any further support for Kiev.
Republican Kevin McCarthy now has to fear for his top job after the provisional agreement. His radical party colleague Matt Gaetz announced on Sunday that he wanted to oust him from the presidency of the US House of Representatives. For the already weakened McCarthy, it is now a matter of political survival. He is likely to find himself in a quandary again in the dispute over continued support for Ukraine.
The events of the weekend at a glance:
The shutdown aversion
Just a few hours before the deadline, the Senate, after the House of Representatives, voted in favor of the bill with a bipartisan majority, averting a so-called shutdown.
However, the budget only has a short postponement until mid-November; the dispute over a new federal budget between Democrats and Republicans has only been postponed. But the crime in the US Congress is already having an impact on Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden signed the law shortly after the vote. But the Democrat also found words of caution: “Under no circumstances can we allow U.S. support to Ukraine to be interrupted.” He assured Ukraine on Sunday that he could continue to count on American support. The agreement now brings a postponement, but above all also many losers. It could cost Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy his office.
There is a lot at stake in a shutdown
The term of the budget approved by the US Congress at the end of last year ended at the end of this month – on Sunday evening. By then, a new federal budget had to be approved to avoid insolvency. The political bickering repeats itself every year. As a rule, Congress suffices by adopting an interim budget, as was the case this time. A shutdown means that millions of government employees will no longer receive their salaries – many of them will then have to go on mandatory leave. Many live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have much savings.
Aid to Ukraine
The United States is considered Ukraine’s most important ally in the fight against the Russian invasion. Since the start of the war, the Biden administration alone has provided more than $40 billion in military aid. Biden asked Congress this summer for billions more for Ukraine — demanding about $13 billion in military aid alone to guarantee support for Kiev through early 2024. There were also billions more for economic and humanitarian aid.
The fact that no aid to Ukraine is included in the interim budget does not mean that Kiev will immediately no longer receive support from the US. However, the funds approved so far are slowly running out. The confrontation in the US Congress is already having consequences, because it is sending a message to Russia.
It is a signal of weakness, of a lack of resolve on the part of the US, warned the military analyst of the American broadcaster CNN, Cedric Leighton. There are also fears in the United States that the Europeans could reduce their support if the United States acts hesitantly. More than a year before the presidential elections, it is clear how controversial the topic of Ukraine is now being discussed in the US – and that the unconditional support of the Americans is by no means a given.
The motion to remove McCarthy
On Sunday, far-right Republican Matt Gaetz announced that he wanted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the presidency of the US House of Representatives.
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, the Florida Republican said he plans to file an impeachment motion next week. This would force a vote on whether McCarthy can keep his job.
“Speaker McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January, and since then he has brazenly and repeatedly violated that agreement,” Gaetz said in the interview. “This deal he made with Democrats to break many of the spending guardrails was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”
The Republicans only have a very narrow majority in the House of Representatives. The result is that a smaller circle of extreme lawmakers can push Chairman McCarthy ahead of them. Gaetz has been one of McCarthy’s bitterest opponents for some time. The 41-year-old lawyer from Florida is a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2017. In the dispute over the new interim budget, McCarthy insulted the right-wing fringe of his groupto reach an agreement with the Democrats at the last minute.
If the hardliner Gaetz actually submits a historic proposal to depose McCarthy, this will not automatically mean that he will lose his position. A vote can be prevented with motions. No leader of the House of Representatives has ever been removed from office by such a move. Such a request is extremely unusual and very rare in American history. In any case, McCarthy was confident of winning the weekend, challenging his opponents and saying: “I will survive.”
McCarthy: A flag in the wind?
McCarthy has never made a secret of his desire to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. In January, the California representative finally replaced Democrat Nancy Pelosi in the post. However, fifteen rounds of voting were necessary because parts of his party refused to support him, including Gaetz. It was a disgrace of historic proportions. At that time, many people no longer believed that McCarthy would get enough votes. But the 58-year-old made major concessions to the hardliners in his party.
In fact, McCarthy has repeatedly managed to talk his way out of seemingly hopeless political situations in the past. Opponents accuse him of having no principles. This makes it easy for him to jettison political beliefs when it benefits him. After the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, the Republican is said to have planned to call on then US President Trump to resign. When it became clear that a significant portion of the party continued to support Trump, McCarthy abandoned his plans and aggressively backed Trump.
McCarthy: Controversial within his own party
Other hardliners this weekend also criticized McCarthy and his bipartisan budget bill, which, contrary to what they had demanded, does not include major cuts. Republican Ken Buck accused McCarthy of breaking promises: “McCarthy and others in the House of Representatives continually wait until the last minute to crush representatives with bad budget bills.”
It remains unclear how many of the radicals would ultimately join Gaetz and vote against McCarthy — and whether Gaetz misjudged. So far, there is no opposing candidate that the different wings of the party can agree on. But dissatisfaction with McCarthy is not new. After the debt dispute was reached in the summer, it faced headwinds from the right. Even then, he ultimately worked with the Democrats to prevent the US from going bankrupt.
His opponents often seem primarily concerned with pushing the political system in the US to its limits. There is no willingness to compromise; it is more about defending the most extreme positions. However, these cannot be enforced in Congress, where US President Joe Biden’s Democrats have the majority in the Senate. Only in Ukraine have the ultra-radical Republicans now got their way.
Meanwhile, Biden indicated that he had reached an agreement with McCarthy on new aid to Ukraine. Now it will become clear how reliable the Republican is, Biden said. The fact is, McCarthy might still need the Democrats. If there were a vote for the top position, McCarthy would likely need their votes to remain in office. Left-wing Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made it clear that this does not exist “for free”. Because it is not the Democrats’ job to keep the Republicans in power.
(lacquer/sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
