United States Congressional negotiators on Sunday agreed to sanction around $1 trillion federal funds for a series of programmes to keep the government running till September 30. The money will be utilised to pay for border security, soldiers’ salary, medical research, etc. However, funds for President Donald Trump’s wall along the Mexico border do not figure in the Bill.
The legislation needs to be approved by the House of Representatives and Senate. If passed, this will be the first major legislation to be cleared since President Donald Trump took charge on January 20. However, if it is not enacted by May 5, scores of workers will be laid off, according to Reuters. “This agreement is a good agreement for the American people and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
The Pentagon is likely to get a $12.5-billion increase in defence spending for the fiscal year that ends on September 30. On top of that, it may also receive $2.5 billion to fight the Islamic State group. Trump, however, had asked for $30 billion more in military funds for this year.
For border security operations, the negotiators agreed to allocate $1.5 billion to encourage use of new technology and repair the existing infrastructure. A Congressional aide described it to be “the most robust border security increase in roughly a decade”, according to The Guardian.
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