US Senate Approves Bill to End Government Shutdown

Washington: The Senate passed legislation to reopen the government on Monday, bringing the longest shutdown in history closer to an end as a small group of Democrats approved a deal with Republicans despite harsh criticism from their own party.

The 41-day shutdown could last a few more days as House members, who have been on recess since mid-September, return to Washington to vote on the legislation. President Donald Trump signaled his support for the bill on Monday, saying “we’re going to open our country very quickly.”

The final 60-40 vote in the Senate ended more than six weeks of bitter stalemate, with Democrats demanding Republicans negotiate with them to extend health care tax credits that expire Jan. 1. Republicans never did, and five moderate Democrats eventually changed their votes over delayed federal food aid, worsening airport delays and hundreds of thousands of federal workers not being paid.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called on lawmakers to begin returning to Washington “immediately” due to delays caused by the travel shutdown. “We need to do this as quickly as possible,” said Johnson, who has kept the House out of session since mid-September, when the House passed a bill to maintain government funding.

How the impasse ended After weeks of talks, a group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — agreed to vote to pass the bipartisan three-year spending bill and extend the remainder of government funding through the end of January. Republicans promised to vote on extending health care subsidies by mid-December, but there was no guarantee of success.

Shaheen said Monday that “this is the option on the table” after Republicans refused to back down.

“We’ve reached a point where many of us believe the shutdown has been very effective in increasing health care concerns,” he said, saying the promise of a future ballot “gives us the opportunity to continue to address this issue going forward.”

The legislation includes a reversal of mass layoffs of federal employees by the Trump administration since the shutdown began Oct. 1. The law also protects federal employees from new layoffs through January and guarantees they will be paid when the shutdown ends.

In addition to Shaheen, King and Hassan, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, home to tens of thousands of federal workers, also voted Sunday to advance the deal. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes. All other Democrats voted against it, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Moderates were expecting more Democrats to vote with them because 10 to 12 Democratic senators were part of the negotiations. But in the end, only five people changed their votes; That’s the exact number Republicans need. King, Cortez Masto and Fetterman had been voting to open the government since October 1.

Many Democrats call the vote a ‘mistake’ Schumer, who received backlash from his party when he voted to keep the government open in March, said Sunday that he could not support the vote “in good faith” after meeting with the women’s group for more than two hours.

“We will not give up the fight,” Schumer said, adding that Democrats are now “sounding the alarm” on health care.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, who is meeting with Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “terrible mistake.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying voters who overwhelmingly backed Democrats in last week’s election were urging them to “stand faithful.”

House Democrats quickly criticized the Senate.

Texas Rep. Greg Casar, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said a deal that doesn’t lower health care costs is a “betrayal” to millions of Americans who rely on Democrats to fight back.

Others nodded in support of Schumer. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Schumer after his vote to keep the government open in March. But on Monday he praised the Senate Democratic leader and expressed support for his leadership throughout the shutdown.

“The American people know we’re on the right side of this fight,” Jeffries said Monday, pointing to Tuesday’s election results.

Health care debate continues It’s unclear whether the two parties can find common ground on health care subsidies before a promised vote in the Senate in December. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he would not commit to bringing up the issue in his chamber.

On Monday, Johnson said House Republicans are always open to voting on reforming what he called the “affordable care bill” but did not say whether they would still vote for subsidies.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending Covid-19 tax credits on the grounds that premiums for millions of people could skyrocket, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that tax revenues for the plans should be routed through individuals.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins said Monday she supports expanding tax credits with changes such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they might be open to the idea.

“We need to act by the end of the year, and that’s exactly what the majority leader promised,” Collins said. he said.

Other Republicans, including Trump, used the debate to renew years-long criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled.

In a possible preview, the Senate voted 47-53 along party lines on Monday not to extend the subsidies for another year. Majority Republicans allowed the vote as part of a separate deal with Democrats to speed up voting and send the legislation to the House.