US Senate passes deal aimed at ending longest ever government shutdown
EPAAn agreement aimed at ending the US government shutdown has passed the Senate, paving the way for breaking the record-breaking deadlock.
After weekend negotiations in Washington, a minority of Democrats joined Republicans and voted in favor of the deal.
The vote is the first procedural step towards passing a compromise to finance the government since it runs out of money on October 1.
Federal workers and services will need to clear a few more hurdles before returning, including a vote from the House of Representatives, but this is the first serious sign of progress after 40 days of impasse.
The current shutdown is the longest on record in the United States, and until this weekend, Republican and Democratic lawmakers appeared to be at an impasse.
Many government services have been suspended since October, and nearly 1.4 million federal employees are on leave or working without pay.
The shutdown had far-reaching impacts on a variety of services, including U.S. air travel and food assistance for 41 million low-income Americans.
The deal was negotiated between Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House, along with Democratic senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and King Angus of Maine, an independent who is meeting with Democrats.
Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, needed the measure to clear the 60-vote minimum threshold.
They managed to get eight votes from the other side of the aisle, but lost just one vote in Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who voted against the bill, saying it would increase the national debt.
The agreement includes a deal for a December vote on extending health subsidies that expire this year, a key issue on which Democrats are waiting to concede.
Democratic Party leaders have said they will not support new funding for government operations until Congress addresses subsidies that help tens of millions of Americans pay for health insurance purchased through government-run exchanges.
“I’m grateful to be able to say that we have both Democratic and Republican senators who are willing to work to address this crisis in a bipartisan manner,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a statement before the vote. he said.
“We also have a president who is willing to sit down and work on this issue, so I look forward to seeing what solutions can be brought forward.”
Thune did not say exactly what the bill would include; which disappointed many Democrats in the House and Senate; Democrats argued that Democrats who negotiated the deal did not get enough in return.
“Democrats have been fighting for months to get the Senate to address the health crisis,” said Chuck Schumer, the party’s leader in the Senate.
“This bill does nothing to ensure the crisis is addressed,” he said, while confirming he would vote against the deal.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the decision “deplorable,” while some high-profile Democrats were highly critical of their colleagues who sided with Republicans to end the shutdown without concrete guarantees on health.
The measure also includes three appropriations bills to fund institutions such as veterans affairs and agriculture, as well as a resolution to continue funding the rest of the government through Jan. 30; That means another government shutdown could be on the horizon early next year.
It also includes guarantees that all federal employees will be paid for their time during the shutdown and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), an essential food safety net for one in eight Americans, through next September.
A vote on the deal will be only the first procedural step of the new financing deal and will still need to be approved by the US House of Representatives, where it will likely see its own challenges.
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