We apologize that the daily updates over the past two days were not published due to a blog issue. They are out now-- you can view Friday's article here and Saturday's article here.
The United States government managed to pass a stopgap funding bill in the nick of time yesterday, preventing a major government shutdown.
Every year, many governments are required by law to pass an annual budget which determines how much money they will spend over the next fiscal year. When that budget is not passed by the end of the year, there are no approved funds for the following year, resulting in a government shutdown.
In the United States, during a shutdown, all non-essential services are temporarily halted and hundreds of thousands of government employees are furloughed, or put on a temporary, unpaid leave. Essential services like military officers, law enforcement, air traffic controllers, and others are required to keep working without pay, which causes a host of problems across industries.
Last week, a proposed last-minute, bipartisan bill was struck down by prominent Republicans after being approved by Democrats and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, throwing the government into disarray. The deadline for the budget bill was Sunday at 12:00 am EST, meaning that they only had a couple of days to work on the bill and approve it before the government went into a shutdown.
One of the most prominent Republicans opposing the bill was soon-to-be President Donald Trump, whose biggest demand was to remove the problem of the debt ceiling from the massive list of issues for him to deal with in 2025. Trump has a long agenda with numerous objectives on it, including dealing with immigration and taxes. However, one of the largest problems facing the United States is the debt ceiling, which limits how much debt the country can incur.
It soon became clear that there was no way both parties would agree on a solution to Trump's demands before the budget deadline, so House Republicans decided to go through with the amended bill. Despite Trump's threats of electoral primary challenges against any House Republican who did not deal with the debt ceiling, 170 House Republicans ignored Trump's demands on Saturday and went through with the deal. It was later approved by incumbent President Joe Biden, saving the country from a government shutdown less than a day before the deadline.
The new bill will postpone the budget talks until March 14, adding another issue onto Trump's already-full agenda. In the meantime, it will provide funding to government agencies until a proper budget is confirmed.
The next political hurdle for the United States government will come on January 3, when Congress will elect the Speaker of the House. Republican Mike Johnson currently holds the position, but many Republicans are skeptical over his handling of the budget bill this week, making his support in Congress relatively shaky.
Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Bulls do not get angry upon seeing the color red. In fact, bulls are actually colorblind to red and green. The actual thing that stirs up the bulls during a bullfight is the movement of the cape-- bulls are more likely to charge at whatever object is moving the most. In the beginning, red became associated with bulls because matadors use red capes in bullfights, as red is most likely to hide the blood after killing the animal.
Quote of the Day: The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. (Confucius)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Testimonial (noun, pronounced tess-tuh-MOH-nee-ul)- A testimonial is a written or spoken statement in which a person says they used a product or service and liked it, or that they appreciate someone's work, skill, character, etc. Testimonial is also used as a synonym of evidence and testimony.
In a Sentence: The website is full of testimonials from satisfied customers.
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