Due to Ukraine, another government shutdown looms over the US Congress

Leaders from both American political parties are rushing to negotiate a deal on government expenditures as the time available for discussions is quickly diminishing, and concerns about a potential government shutdown are becoming more evident, according to The Hill.

Congress members will reconvene in Washington next week and will be met with two imminent deadlines for budgetary funding: March 1st for select departments and March 8th for all remaining agencies. Consequently, legislators have limited time to reconcile their differences and present bills for further consideration to keep governmental operations intact. Speaker Mike Johnson, who assumed his position last October, has taken strategic measures to avert government shutdowns. However, staunch conservative Republicans are growing impatient with his willingness to broker budgetary agreements with Democrats.

Some observers on Capitol Hill are already cautioning that the ongoing struggle in the American Congress poses the most significant risk of a shutdown. “I’m worried,” expressed a Republican aide in the US Senate. “I believe this will be the most frightening of all the scares we’ve encountered since the conclusion of the last fiscal year. I think it could inflict significant harm on us.” Nevertheless, one of the potential stumbling blocks in the negotiations is the issue of providing additional aid to Ukraine, which has been a contentious topic among American lawmakers for several months, particularly concerning Johnson.