The threat of an American government shutdown – a freeze on non-essential federal activities for lack of funding – has once again been averted at the last minute in Congress, or rather postponed. On Wednesday, November 15, the Senate confirmed by 87 votes to 11 the bill the House of Representatives voted on the previous day.

This plan, devised by the new speaker, Mike Johnson, extends part of the funding until January 19, and another part until February 2. The Thanksgiving holiday on November 23, a major occasion for family reunions and air traffic in the United States, is saved.

Johnson had to rely on Democratic votes and accept the loss of 96 votes from his own party to avoid a crisis that Republicans would have had to take responsibility for. In so doing, he chose a pragmatic path identical to that of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, on September 30, who lost his position as a result. But Johnson, an ardent Christian conservative, is much more popular within the extremist ranks of his party, who are unwilling to call for his head at this stage. "I've been at the job less than three weeks, right," said Johnson. "I can't turn an aircraft carrier overnight".

Lawmakers in the hard-line Freedom Caucus in the US House of Representatives intend to push for cuts in federal spending in January. Their pressure and weight on the right already prompted the speaker to support exceptional aid of $14.3 billion (€13.2 billion) for Israel, but conditional on a reduction of the same magnitude in the tax services budget. This proposal was ignored by the Democratic-majority Senate, where there is a broad consensus in favor of unconditional aid for America's allies, in response to their security needs.

This is the other major lesson to be learned from this temporarily averted shutdown. The main victims of this compromise, which satisfies no one, are Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, Israel. The White House had asked Congress to adopt a comprehensive aid package for its two allies, as well as for Taiwan, and funding to secure the border with Mexico, totaling nearly $106 billion. Kyiv was the biggest beneficiary, getting $61 billion. Since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has already received over $44 billion in military aid from Washington.

Today, the White House can hardly sustain its ambitions. "The runway is getting shorter and shorter for our ability to support them," acknowledged John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, on November 14. The day before in the press room, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said he still believed in the possibility of bipartisan backing for an extension of US financial and military commitments. "I'm on the phone personally daily with members, both Democrats and Republicans, to make the case. And we are leaning forward in making it clear that the United States' national interests will be deeply harmed if we are not able to secure and sustain funding for Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific and the border."

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