Domestic
Concern and doubt looms over Washington DC this week as lawmakers race to beat the clock and avoid a government shutdown of four agencies on Saturday, March 2 at 12:01AM. Democrats and Republicans in both chambers on Capitol Hill were hoping to release text of bipartisan appropriation bills, but high-level disagreements over policy issues, as well as domestic and foreign events, have both parties stonewalled. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who stresses the urgency of funding the government, pleaded with President Joe Biden in a White House meeting on Tuesday that to get bills on the floor in the House, the chief executive would have to start taking the border seriously. Johnson, who manages one of the slimmest Republican majorities in American history, is also facing a lot of pressure from his right flank to prevent aid to Ukraine and cut federal expenditures to programs that Democrats champion. Given the fast-approaching deadline, a stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, might be needed to avoid a shutdown. If Speaker Johnson passes a CR, he would likely befall the same fate of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy who passed a CR and was then ousted as House leader. Lawmakers and their leadership remain hopeful and optimistic that a deal will be made to fund the government, but time is running out.
Heartbreak circumvents Athens, Georgia this week, 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley was killed last Thursday while running alone. Police found Riley’s body dead from blunt force trauma in a popular recreational lake. Behind bars, 26-year-old Jose Ibarra was charged with her murder. To many Americans, Ibarra has become the face of illegal immigration. Governor Brain Kemp called out the current presidential administration’s “unwillingness to secure the southern border” as a direct result of Riley’s death. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says Ibarra illegally crossed the US southern border in 2022 after being processed and released. He is now in police custody as the community of Athens grapples with grief of an “amazing daughter, sister, friend who will be missed everyday”.
International
188 lawmakers in the Hungarian parliament, with six against and no abstentions, supported and approved Sweden’s NATO membership. This was due to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban facing pressure from NATO allies to fall in line and secure Sweden’s accession to the alliance. Now that Sweden has joined NATO, Russian President Vladmir Putin has effectively failed in his endeavor to prevent an expansion of the alliance, one of the reasons he invaded Ukraine. Sweden brings technological resources and geological advantages to the table such as cutting-edge submarines tailored to the Baltic Sea and a sizable fleet of domestically produced Gripen fighter jets. Now, the ratification will be signed by the speaker of parliament and Hungary’s president, after which the remaining formalities, such as depositing accession documentation in Washington, are likely to be concluded.
South Korea is facing a nationwide health crisis as thousands of junior doctors have been striking in response to the current government’s push to recruit more medical students. They have been refusing to see patients and attend surgeries since they walked off the job on Feb. 20. The striking doctors-in-training say schools can’t handle an abruptly increased number of medical students. They predict doctors in greater competition would perform overtreatment, which would increase public medical expenses and cause the students to look for higher-paying jobs elsewhere. The walkouts have led hospitals to cancel numerous planned surgeries and other medical treatments in a country that already desperately needs doctors. On Monday, the vice health minister said the government won’t seek any disciplinary steps, such as legal ramifications, against the striking doctors if they report back to work by Thursday, Feb. 29. However, the attitude of the strikers makes it seem they are unlikely to stop soon.
