US House adopts bill to avoid shutdown

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WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The US House of Representatives
adopted a budget bill Tuesday to avoid an imminent government shutdown and
extend funding through early December, after Democrats reached a deal with
the White House and Republicans.

The bipartisan text would still need the Senate’s backing and President
Donald Trump’s signature before it could enter into force.

“We have reached an agreement with Republicans,” House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said in a statement following a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin to prevent large portions of the government from shutting down after
September 30.

The measure would “add nearly $8 billion in desperately needed nutrition
assistance for hungry schoolchildren and families,” Pelosi said.

The text extends a program by which children receive free or reduced-price
meals in order “to help the millions of families struggling to keep food on
the table during the pandemic,” Pelosi said.

Earlier in the day the United States surpassed the grim milestone of
200,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.

Republicans had rejected an initial proposal even before a vote, saying
that the bill ignored the needs of US farmers, with moderate Democrats also
joining the outcry.

The matter is crucial to many of the lawmakers’ constituents, making it a
key election-year issue as many members of Congress court voters ahead of
November 3.

The bipartisan deal includes funding for farmers, but with increased
accountability to prevent “funds for farmers from being misused,” Pelosi
said.

Congress, which is deeply divided along party lines, would not likely have
been able to reach a broader agreement on a new 2021 budget before the end of
the fiscal year, which falls on September 30 in the United States.

The short-term bill extends funding through December 11.