The U.S. Congress has approved a deal that ends a 16-day-old government shutdown and authorizes payment of the nation’s debts, avoiding a much-feared credit default that many experts said would severely damage the global economy.
The deal came after moderate Senate and House Republicans joined with Democrats to approve the fiscal bill, ending weeks of bitter, partisan brinksmanship that partially shut down the federal government, furloughed about 800,000 workers, damaged American business and angered the vast majority of voters, Canada news informs.
What worries many lawmakers, however, is that the proposed deal is only temporary. Another fiscal crisis lurks just around the corner.
“This agreement gives us a little breathing room,” Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat, said in an interview outside the Senate chambers. “But we can’t keep going from crisis to crisis.”
