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House passes bill to avert shutdown and suspend debt ceiling

Antoinette Aho

The House of Representatives passed a federal funding bill in a last-resort attempt at averting a government shutdown by suspending the national debt ceiling. In a so-called “continuing resolution,” the House also approved billions of dollars to aid Afghanistan refugees, nearly 40,000 of which recently entered the states.  

The 93-page act is dubbed the ‘‘Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act,” and stretches until the end of the fiscal year on September 30th, 2022. By maintaining federal funding levels and removing the debt ceiling, the government is dodging a potential shutdown and reneging on the national debt. 

Although the bill provides a government solution, for the time being, it fails to address America’s towering national debt which currently stands at $28 trillion. Between millions spent in recent COVID-19 induced stimulus checks and the trillion-dollar infrastructure package, the stability of the US economy is under attack. 

Other programs are facing downfall due to a lack of federal funds, for instance, for the first time in 39 years, the cost of Social Security payments will exceed tax revenues in 2021. Furthermore, The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which pays retirement and survivors benefits, will be exhausted by 2033, one year earlier than previous predictions. The Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, which pays disability benefits, will be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2057, 8 years earlier than in last year’s report.

Following the $1.9 trillion governmental stimulus package in March, President Biden considered the first major tax hike since 1993 in an effort to fund his new long-term economic plan. The tax increase comes in an effort to fund this new bill with something other than government debt, which the previous stimulus package relied on.

ARTICLE: ANTOINETTE AHO

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: CNN

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Antoinette Aho

Antoinette is a community college student in Sacramento, California. She is a Politics Editor at Fact Based America, a correspondent for Campus Reform, and a student journalist. She previously worked for Turning Point USA as a High School Coordinator.
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