The US Senate approves the budget package – news.ORF.at

The US Senate passed a $1 trillion budget package at the last minute. Voting began late yesterday evening (local time), shortly before the deadline, one minute after midnight, and ended early in the morning.

Until recently, it was not clear whether there would be a partial cessation of government business – that is, a shutdown. In theory, this was also the case for a short period, as the deadline passed before voting ended.

But that had no real effect. US President Joe Biden must still sign the law – this is considered a formality. The White House announced that night that it was expected to happen today.

Republicans' parliamentary tactics

Yesterday, the House of Representatives approved the budget package by a majority of parties. The vote was so close in the Senate not because of the lack of a majority, but because of the parliamentary tactics of Republican senators. In the end, 74 senators voted in favor of the budget package and 24 against it.

The impact of the closure would initially have been minimal over the weekend, as most affected government employees are out of work anyway. It could have been a problem if this continued into next week. The closure means that millions of government employees will no longer receive their salaries.