Closing before the end: The US Chamber of Commerce votes on an interim budget

The end of the weeks-long partial shutdown of US government operations is near. After the Senate, the DPR, the second chamber of parliament, also decided on a transition budget that will be in effect until the end of January.

After the House of Representatives decision, a signature from US President Donald Trump was needed to end the government shutdown – the government came to a standstill. The Senate approved the interim budget on Monday.

Trump has spoken of a “major victory” ahead of the end of a weeks-long budget freeze. “Congratulations to you and John and everyone on this great victory,” he said Tuesday (local time) at a Veterans Day event addressed to House Republican Leader Mike Johnson and Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune. The government shutdown should never have happened, Trump continued.

Republican and Democratic senators who support Trump achieved an initial breakthrough on Sunday on ending the government shutdown, which could safeguard government spending through the end of January. However, the compromise was controversial among Democrats.

This closure has been in effect since October 1. This is the longest budget closure in US history. At the heart of the debate is health care. Democrats are calling for more money for those in need whose health insurance will be threatened by the end of the year. However, Republicans insist that they will only negotiate a subsidy extension once the budget freeze ends.

Hundreds of thousands of federal government employees are no longer being paid due to the budget freeze. Many government services have been canceled or reduced. For example, food aid for those in need has expired: the Snap program, on which some 42 million people in the US depend, is suspended. There have also been significant disruptions to air traffic in recent days, increasing political pressure to end the budget freeze.