US President Joe Biden (center) wearing a baseball cap encourages players during a visit to the US Congressional Charity Baseball Stadium at National Park in Washington, DC, on the 29th. Washington = Reuters
US President Joe Biden was due to visit Chicago on the 29th (local time). This was to encourage vaccination against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). But I canceled my schedule the day before and spent the whole day at the White House in Washington meeting people and hanging out on the phone. This is because, despite the deadline for processing the fiscal year 2022 budget, which is just one day away, the situation has not been easy. Republican opposition over the budget bill, opposition from the center of the Democratic Party, and dissatisfaction with the progressives of the same party are in a situation where they have to go through a ‘three-fold hardship’.
The U.S. Congress was brisk throughout the day. Passed the federal government’s temporary expenditure budget to prevent “shutdown” and dealt with the debt ceiling suspension bill to prevent the “default” of the US national default, $3.5 trillion (about KRW 4,140 trillion) and KRW 1 trillion, respectively The budget for social welfare and infrastructure (infrastructure) were intertwined with the 200 billion dollar (1,420 trillion won) budget.
As all four issues are linked, the ruling Democratic Party decided to put out the fire first. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “We will agree on a budget for temporary spending to prevent a government shutdown and vote on it on the morning of the 30th.” After a vote in the House of Representatives and the signature of President Biden, the federal government will be able to continue working on a temporary budget until at least December 3. If it was not processed by midnight on the 30th, non-essential federal services would be shut down and hundreds of thousands of civil servants and others would have to take a leave of absence.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi briefs reporters after a Democratic Congressional meeting at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on the 28th. Washington = Associated Press
But it is a mountain beyond a mountain. If the infrastructure and social welfare budgets are not passed even after the provisional budget is processed, opposition and opposition and paralysis of the federal government are inevitable.
The problem is that Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kirsten Cinemas oppose the social welfare budget, which includes budgets for health care, education, child support and climate change response. If the two lawmakers oppose the Senate structure, in which the Democrats and Republicans share 50-50 seats, it is impossible to pass the budget. On the other hand, in the House of Representatives, members of the Progressive Group are holding on, saying, ‘The infrastructure budget can only be passed when the social welfare budget is passed.’
After persuading Congressman Manchin and Cinema on the 28th, President Biden made a surprise visit to a charity baseball event hosted by Congress on the same day, sent a White House aide to Congress, and made a phone call. If the two budget proposals that President Biden ambitiously pursued under the slogan of ‘Rebuild America’ after taking office in January, run aground, the political blow will be severe.
What’s more, the U.S. government could face unprecedented default if it doesn’t raise its $28.4 trillion debt ceiling before October 18. The bill is strongly opposed by Republicans and requires President Biden to exercise his political power.
Washington = Jeong Sang-won correspondent ornot@hankookilbo.com
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