The United States Senate took the first step towards ending the longest government shutdown in the country’s history on Sunday night, voting 60–40 to advance a funding deal after eight members of the Democratic caucus broke ranks to support it.
Seven Democrats and one independent who caucuses with them joined nearly all Republicans to clear the 60-vote threshold that had blocked every previous attempt to reopen the government since the shutdown began on 1 October. The eight were Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Angus King of Maine. Only one Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against.
The deal was brokered by three former governors — Shaheen, Hassan and King — who agreed to move ahead without the guaranteed extension of health insurance tax credits that Democrats had demanded for almost six weeks. In return, Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised a separate vote on extending the credits, which benefit about 24 million Americans and expire on 1 January, no later than the second week of December. The promise carries no guarantee the extension will pass.
The package would fund most of the government through 30 January, while three full-year spending bills — covering agriculture and food aid, veterans’ affairs and military construction, and Congress itself — would run through next September. It would restore the jobs of federal workers dismissed during the shutdown, with back pay, and bar further layoffs until the funding expires. It also directs $8.2 billion to the WIC nutrition programme for women, infants and children, and unlocks food aid for the 42 million Americans who rely on it.
The breakthrough drew anger inside the Democratic Party. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer voted against the package, along with most of his caucus, arguing that it does nothing to protect Americans from steep rises in health insurance premiums. Shaheen defended the decision, saying it was the only option on the table after Republicans refused to move.
The vote does not reopen the government immediately. The bill must clear further procedural steps in the Senate before going to the House of Representatives, which has not been in session since 19 September. Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants the House to vote as soon as Wednesday, after which the bill would go to President Donald Trump to sign into law.
Sources: Associated Press, via Panhandle Post (https://panhandlepost.com/posts/92271442-9b7c-40ee-a392-dbe8dcc678a3) and The Baltimore Banner (https://www.thebanner.com/politics-power/national-politics/senate-government-shutdown-deal-E4OK32ZVAFEJLBOC236XCE7A6M/).
