US House of Representatives greenlights $300M in fresh aid to Ukraine

ISTANBUL

The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill for $300 million in new aid to Ukraine.

The house voted on a bill that was separated from the Pentagon budget and turned into a new proposal, outlining $300 million in new aid to Ukraine.

In a late-night vote, the bill was approved with 311 "yes" votes against 117 "no" votes.

The inclusion of aid to Ukraine in the 2024 Pentagon budget has caused tension between Republicans and Democrats.

Furthermore, the House of Representatives approved the $826 billion budget for the Pentagon after aid to Ukraine was removed from the package.

However, it was noted that this approval would not prevent a potential government shutdown.

The house also approved the budget for the State Department.

The US government faces the threat of a shutdown due to budget disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.

What does "government shutdown" mean?

According to US laws, if Congress cannot approve the budget for the entire fiscal year, which starts on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30, in a timely manner, the period until it is approved must be covered by temporary budgets.

During periods when a temporary budget is not approved, the federal government loses spending authority and must suspend all activities except for essential services.

During this process, non-essential government employees are placed on mandatory leave, while essential personnel, including the US military, intelligence agencies, doctors, and nurses working in public hospitals, airports, and prison security personnel, among others, continue to perform their duties. These "essential personnel" typically do not receive their salaries during shutdown periods until Congress passes a new budget.

*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul