What’s in deal that could end government shutdown
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) speaks at a press conference with other Senate Democrats who voted to restore government funding on November 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Nathan Posner | Anatolia | Getty Images
Update: Senate on Monday night passed the agreementsends the financing bill to the Parliament.
Senate Democrats are preparing to help Republicans pass a bill that could end the government shutdown. But the deal they agreed to does not directly address what was once a key Democratic demand: an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
The Senate took a major step toward ending the shutdown Sunday night, when eight Democrats in the narrowly divided chamber voted for a procedural motion that would clear the way for approval of a negotiated funding bill.
Those eight Democrats, breaking with party leadership, were enough for the measure to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome the filibuster. That rule prevented Republicans, who have a slim majority in the Senate, from reopening the government on their own.
The passage of the procedural vote broke a nearly six-week deadlock in which most Senate Democrats had repeatedly turned down a Republican-backed bill that would temporarily restart government funding at current levels.
What did the democrats want?
Democrats had requested that any funding bill should include significant additional spending on health care protection and other essential measures.
Most importantly, they fought for a permanent extension of enhanced tax credits under the ACA, which were introduced during the Biden administration and are set to expire at the end of the year. If these subsidies ended, millions of Americans would they lose their health insurance or see their premiums increase significantly.
Democrats have also sought to reverse recent cuts to Medicaid and other health programs. And they aimed to find a solution to the Trump administration’s freeze policy congressionally approved federal fundsDemocrats say this is illegal.
Update: The Senate accepted the agreement Monday night, sending the funding bill to the House.
What’s in the financing agreement?
Text of the financing agreement That leaves many of those priorities unaddressed, which helped spur Sunday’s breakthrough. The 31-page bill makes no mention of the expiring Obamacare tax credits.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) looks outside the Senate Chamber after a vote on the 40th day of a partial government shutdown on November 9, 2025 in Washington, DC, USA.
Aaron Schwartz | Reuters
Instead, the deal includes a guarantee from Republican leadership that the Senate will vote on the Democratic-drafted health care bill before the second week of December.
Senator Angus of Maine King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said Sunday night after helping broker the deal: “This is a big step, because otherwise there’s no way the minority would introduce a bill in the U.S. Senate.”
Even if a bill to expand tax credits passes the Senate, it would need to be passed by the GOP-led House and then signed by President Donald Trump. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not promised to bring such a bill to a vote in his chamber.
The agreement is currently advancing in the Senate reportedly It does not challenge Trump’s ability to revoke congressionally appropriated funds.
But it also includes a “van” that funds three of the 12 annual appropriations bills and will continue to fund the rest of the government through Jan. 30.
This full year of funding will cover the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps, sources familiar with the deal told NBC News. The Trump administration said SNAP benefits would not be paid in full during the shutdown, prompting ongoing lawsuits from Democratic state leaders.
The agreement would also reverse the Trump administration’s shutdown-related “cuts in force,” or layoffs, of federal employees and provide refunds for paychecks they missed during the shutdown.
Agreement divides Democrats
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) opposed the agreement.
“This health crisis is so severe, so urgent, and so devastating to families back home that I cannot support it in good faith. [continuing resolution] “This fails to address the health care crisis,” he said Sunday.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks at a press conference to discuss how the ongoing government shutdown is impacting healthcare on Capitol Hill on October 29, 2025 in Washington DC, USA.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters
Distrustful Democrats had previously rejected Republicans’ insistence that any negotiations on Obamacare subsidies could only happen when the government reopens.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) also criticized the Senate agreement and vowed to fight it if the issue comes to his chamber.
But King, who negotiated the compromise Sunday along with Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, argued it was futile to continue the painful shutdown in hopes of getting Republicans to bend on health care.
“The question was, ‘Does the shutdown further the goal of gaining the necessary support to extend the tax credits?’ Our opinion was that it would not produce this result. And the proof of this is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make this happen,” he told the press on Sunday night.
The big shift comes just days after Democratic candidates upset Republicans in the first elections since Trump returned to the White House.
Additionally, multiple polls show that more Americans blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown rather than Democrats. Polls also showed that most Americans support Democrats’ first main demand for expanding health care subsidies.
But the stalemate continued, with an increasingly severe impact on major industries and essential federal services as many public workers were furloughed or required to work without pay.
Reducing staffing among air traffic controllers has led to increased flight delays and cancellations at dozens of major airports across the country.
The political ramifications of Senate Democrats’ shutdown decision are not yet known. Critics have accused Democratic defectors of withdrawing despite having an unquestionably strong position on the shutdown. But proponents of the move say it could benefit Democrats ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
“With the government reopening soon, Senate Republicans must finally come to the table — or make no mistake, Americans will remember who stopped it,” Shaheen said. expression.
“If they don’t fix this, my guess is that they’re going to view last Tuesday’s election as a good night compared to what they’re going to see next year,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Monday morning.
— CNBC’s Emily Wilkins contributed to this report.
