Less than two months since the US federal government narrowly avoided running out of funding, the deeply divided Congress once again faces a tight deadline to approve a new budget — just one week.
Neither the Democratic-controlled Senate or the Republican-led House of Representatives has passed a bill to extend government funding, which expires at midnight next Friday into Saturday.
Without an agreement by November 17, the world’s largest economy will instantly begin pumping the brakes: 1.5 million government employees will go without pay, most federal facilities including national parks will be closed, and sectors such as air travel could be forced to slow down.
Most elected officials on either side of the aisle hope to avoid this extremely unpopular outcome — the so-called “government shutdown.”
The last time Congress faced a funding deadline, at the end of September, it was was plunged into chaos.
Republican allies of former president Donald Trump, furious that their leadership reached a deal with Democratic President Joe Biden to extend funding, successfully moved to oust House speaker Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy’s unprecedented removal left the lower chamber…
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