Senate averts shutdown with provisional budget deal

• The US Senate passed a provisional budget for six months, which prevented the shutdown of most federal offices.
• 54 senators voted in favour of continuing the budget, including two Democrats.
• The provisional budget introduces $13 billion in cuts to expenditures, affecting the IRS and the budget for the District of Columbia.

The United States Senate approved a six-month provisional budget on Friday. The decision was made just hours before the expiration of the current budget, avoiding a shutdown. 54 out of 100 senators voted to continue the current budget until the end of the fiscal year, that is, the end of September, including two Democrats.

The adopted provisional budget extends the provisions of last year’s budget with a few exceptions. It introduces $13 billion in expenditure cuts, impacting areas such as the IRS and reducing the District of Columbia's budget. Additionally, the bill includes a modest increase in defence spending of $6 billion.

Adopting the provisional was made possible by the votes of 10 Democratic senators who accepted it in a previous vote. The required threshold was 60, not 50 votes, meaning that a shutdown would have occurred without their support.

Initially, President Donald Trump and the Republicans hoped to adopt a new budget with even trillions of dollars in spending cuts and tax reductions. Still, they extended last year's budget to allow more time for deeper reforms.

The main reason for the Democrats' opposition was the lack of specific spending instructions, which could potentially enable further massive layoffs and cuts to programs run by Elon Musk's DOGE team. Many lawyers believe that prior spending halts ordered by Musk are illegal without congressional consent. Despite this, some Democrats argued that if a shutdown occurred, it would only facilitate radical cuts and layoffs in the Trump administration, as its officials could decide which offices and agencies would operate and which would not.

- For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option - said Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer. - I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power in a government shutdown is a far worse option - he added.

Schumer's stance sparked a sharp conflict within the Democrats. His critics, mainly from the party's left wing, accused him of capitulation and surrendering the fight for additional protection of the social security system against Musk's cuts. Among Schumer's critics was former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, while many other politicians called for a change in party leadership. Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, also refused to support Schumer.