Another Round of Stopgap Funding to Avoid Government Shutdown

The House of Representative on March 15, 2011 passed a measure by 271-158 votes (54 Republicans opposed the bill as they complained that there was not enough spending cuts) that would fund the government for three more weeks (until April 8, 2011) as hectic negotiation would be rolling out in the Capitol and White House to come up with a final spending plan for the Fiscal 2011 that ends September 30. The House measure cuts spending $6 billion over the next three weeks.

The Senate voted on the measure on March 16. The vote was 87-13, with 9 Republicans joining 4 Democrats in voting down the measure.

Mexico Agrees to Lift Tariff

Visiting Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, on March 3, 2011 reached at an agreement that would pave the way for Mexico to lift $2.4 billion in punitive tariff in exchange for Mexican rigs rolling on American highways. The tariff has hit pork, cosmetics, Christmas trees, chemicals, pet food and hundreds of other products. Mexico would withdraw half the tariff, probably, by April and the remaining half after one of its truck carriers gets approval to enter U.S.A.

Interim Funding of Government to Evade Shutdown

The House of Representative by 335 to 91 (231 Republicans and 104 Democrats voted for the measure, while six Republicans and 85 Democrats voted against it) vote extended the federal government funding for two weeks. The March 1, 2011, House vote was followed by March 2, 2011, Senate vote (91-9, five Republicans and four Democrats voted against the measure) to avert a government shutdown. This gives a two-week lease for the Republican and Democratic negotiators to hammer out an agreement to keep the federal government running beyond the new expiry date of March 18, 2011. The U.S. Senate voted on the measure on March 2, 2011 that would keep running the federal government for two weeks beyond March4, 2011. The measure cuts $4 billion in spending for two weeks.