The US Congress has failed to resolve a dispute over US-Mexico border protection, which is being tied to funding for Ukraine. Negotiations on a long-term spending bill have stalled, which could lead to a shutdown of huge parts of the federal government as early as this week, The Washington Post reports.
A dispute over border security funding threatens to shut down huge parts of the US federal government next Saturday. That risk has increased after Congress and the White House failed to reach an agreement on a long-term spending bill, The Washington Post reports.
According to the publication, a prolonged shutdown could have a domino effect on the government and the country’s economy. In particular, about 1.3 million US military personnel on active duty will remain without pay.
Notably, back on Friday, Congress was close to an agreement. But disagreements over immigration, which have repeatedly derailed passage of the spending bill and become a key point of fracture between the parties, have stalled negotiations, the article stresses.
The parties’ dispute over securing the U.S.-Mexico border is also complicated by other funding issues. Joe Biden, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Mike Johnson are still unable to agree on spending to support Ukraine, negotiations on which have “gone awry” because of attempts to link the money to a solution to the migration crisis, the paper notes.
Earlier, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a proposal to tighten border security in exchange for tens of billions of dollars in emergency aid, which, among other things, Kiev should receive. But Republicans rejected the idea at the insistence of former President Donald Trump, recalls The Washington Post.
