US legislators discuss a bill that would keep the government working. If an agreement for March 14 will not achieve, there will be a partial closure that could affect millions of workers and several non -essential services.
American legislators are one step closer to finance the government beyond the deadline of March 14, but Congress still has serious problems to solve when sessions in the capital of the country resume this week.
The question is how and when to promulgate a proposed extension of the 2017 tax cuts and how to pay the US deficit without cutting key security network programs that help US voters.
President Donald Trump has asked legislators to approve “a large and beautiful bill” that will be a key part of the implementation of his internal policy agenda.
Although Trump expressed his preference for the version of the budget of the House of Representatives, the Senate approved on Friday a financing resolution that provides 150,000 million dollars in military funds and 175,000 million for border security. That measure also avoids controversial Medicaid cuts in the camera version.
Senate leadership has proposed to approve tax cuts in a separate bill at the end of this year.
“Republicans are advancing with legislation to finance continuous efforts to deport criminal foreigners, as well as to provide other necessary resources to ensure our border, discourage illegal immigration and restore respect for the rule of law,” said the leader Of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, in the Plenary of the Senate on Monday.
But the leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, characterized the vote as a first step towards the extension of tax cuts.
“What are Republicans doing? They are spending precious time trying to satisfy the wishes of absolutely richer people in the United States, instead of working to avoid a disastrous interruption of services that help dozens of millions of American classrooms of middle class, ”said Schumer on Monday .
The Senate continued with a vote on its version of the budget due to uncertainty about the possible success of the vote on the camera version. The two versions will have to be subject to a commitment to become law.
The House of Representatives plans to hold a procedure vote on Tuesday, but the president of the Chamber, Mike Johnson, has a little republican majority and cannot afford to lose any of its members to approve its version of the budget.
Republican representative Tony Gonzales, from Texas, headed a group of seven other Republicans from the House of Representatives who warned against possible cuts to the Medicalid Medical Care Program, the financing of food assistance and other programs of the Social Security Network.
“Cutting Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities where hospitals and nursing homes are already struggling to keep their doors open,” legislators said in a letter to Johnson sent last week.
Republican representative Thomas Massie, a member of the conservative Caucus de la Libertad, also expressed concern about the version of the budget that will be voted, together with several other Republicans of the Chamber of Undecii Representatives who have not yet announced their votes about the measure .
The Democrats of Congress also oppose the republican proposal of tax cut, arguing that it will harm the low -income and middle -class Americans who are already concerned about the cost of living and inflation.
In a letter to the “estimated colleagues” sent Monday morning, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote: “The extreme right -wing extremists are determined to approve 4.5 billion dollars in tax exemptions for the rich Republican donors and Well -connected corporations, exploit the debt and load common Americans with the invoice ending Medicaid as we know it. We must be in full way to improve our opportunity to stop the fiscal scam of the Republican party immediately. ”
Trump published in Truth Social last week that “the camera and the Senate are doing spectacular job when working together as a unified and unbeatable team, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important legislation that is being discussed Currently, the camera resolution implements my complete agenda of the United States first, everything, not only parts of it. ”
If legislators cannot reach an agreement before March 14, there will be a partial closure of the government, leaving millions of federal employees temporarily without salary and suspending some non -essential government services.