Senate advances funding package expected to end longest US government shutdown | US federal government shutdown 2025

The Senate introduced a proposal on Monday The funding package is expected to end the longest government shutdown in US history after a coalition of Democrats left the party and voted with Republicans, a move that angered many in the group.

The procedural vote passed by a score of 60 to 40; Seven Democrats and one independent joined all Republicans in advancing a compromise deal that would fund most federal agencies through January. The Senate will now vote on the funding package, which will then need to go to the House for approval. The new deal does not directly address the expiring tax credits for health premiums that have been at the center of the 40-day stalemate between Democrats and Republicans; but Senate majority leader John Thune has promised a Senate vote on the subsidies later this year.

Donald Trump has already expressed his support for the agreement, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has begun urging members of the House of Representatives, who have been on an extended recess since the shutdown began, to return to prepare for a vote and a speedy delivery to the President’s desk.

The legislation extends government funding at current levels through January 2026, along with three-year provisions that would fund programs and legislative branch operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs, USDA and FDA. The continuing order also includes language aimed at halting mass federal layoffs and reverse layoffs that occurred during the shutdown; It bans additional cuts through the end of January and guarantees back pay to workers left without a paycheck for weeks.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he would abide by the terms of the agreement, including provisions for rehiring federal employees who receive notice of a reduction in force.

“We will open our country very quickly,” Trump said, adding: “The deal is very good.”

Democrats are fighting for a permanent extension of subsidies that support Americans based on the Affordable Care Act, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Millions of Americans would see this without expanded tax cuts. sharp rises may cut health premiums or lose market coverage altogether.

The eight senators in the Democratic caucus who worked with Republicans to craft the deal are facing fierce backlash from all corners of the party, from the party’s leaders to activists who rallied behind the shutdown strategy because they failed to win any of the health care concessions they sought. Democrats said they were confident in the House’s commitment to hold a separate vote on a health care bill by mid-December.

“This was the only deal on the table,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, defended her decision to vote for the bill in a statement posted online. “It was our best chance to immediately begin negotiations to reopen the government and expand ACA tax credits.”

Anger among Democrats is so great that some have called on Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to resign, even though he voted against the deal and harshly criticized its constituents. “Either he blessed this surrender, or he failed to hold the line by leading his own group,” Indivisible said. wrote issued a statement urging members to call their senators and demand Schumer step aside.

Despite the Senate’s compromise, there is no guarantee that the Democrats’ health care proposal will pass the Republican-controlled chamber. Earlier Monday, Republicans rejected an amendment introduced by Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin that would have extended ACA tax credits by one year.

“Having a handshake deal with my Republican colleagues to reopen the government and no guarantee of cutting costs is simply not good enough,” Baldwin said in a podium address. “The people I work with need more than that.”

Johnson said Monday he would not guarantee a House vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies.

“We will do what we always do in the House, and that is a deliberative process,” he said. said CNN. “As you know, I don’t guarantee the outcome of legislation or dates or deadlines or anything,” he added.

The vote to end the deadlock in the Senate will come as hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers miss paychecks, millions of Americans risk losing food aid and transportation secretary Sean Duffy warns air traffic controllers face unprecedented pressure and travelers should brace for more chaos unless the government reopens.