Congress has until midnight, Saturday, Sept. 30, to at least pass a continuing resolution on the federal budget, or the government shutdown begins. Democrats in the Senate reduced the $25 billion proposal for more aid to Ukraine down to $6.2 billion, getting enough Republican support for their tentative compromise. CNN reports that officials in both parties said that the Senate had ended debate on the budget legislation on the night of Sept. 27, having garnered sufficient support to pass it in the Senate. However, it varies from the House proposals and is unlikely to gain support there.
Even the fight in the Senate is not over. Notably, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tweeted: “It’s bad policy to bankrupt our own country to send money to Ukraine. I will not consent to easy passage of any spending bill that includes funding for Ukraine. Those in charge of this bill need to either take it out or will have to fight me every step of the way.” Later, he sent out photos of the party leaders in the Senate, Chuck Schumber and Mitch McConnell, captioning it: “The look on their faces when they learned Ukrainian government workers would be paid during a shutdown, but not American government workers. Priceless? No, pathetic.”
