The US Senate has passed a landmark funding bill that could end the longest government shutdown in history in a matter of days.
The bill passed by a 60-40 vote late Monday, with nearly all Republicans joining eight Democrats who broke away from the party to approve it. The deal funds the government until the end of January.
The House of Representatives will now have to pass the bill before President Donald Trump can sign it into law. Trump signaled he was willing to do so earlier Monday.
The deal came to fruition over the weekend after some Democrats joined Republicans in striking an agreement to return federal workers to work and reopen essential services.
Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, needed the measure to clear the 60-vote minimum.
Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Angus King, Jacky Rosen and Jeanne Shaheen broke away from the rest of their party to vote for the funding bill.
Only one Senate Republican – Rand Paul of Kentucky – voted against it, with a majority of Democrats.
The announcement of the bill's passage was made to a virtually empty chamber, but senators who remained until the end cheered and applauded.
“We're going to reopen the government, we're going to make sure that federal workers … now get the compensation they've earned and deserve,” Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who played a key role in crafting the bill, said after it passed.
Many government services have been suspended since October, and about 1.4 million federal workers are on unpaid leave or working without pay.
The shutdown has had widespread impacts on a variety of services, including U.S. air travel and food benefits for 41 million low-income Americans.
The funding bill will now move to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, whose members have been out of session and away from Washington since mid-September.
On Monday, with an agreement in the Senate appearing to be reached, House Speaker Mike Johnson recalled members of his chamber back to Washington.
The House will begin debating the measure on Wednesday, although it is unclear exactly how long the process might take.
Republicans have a two-seat majority in the House of Representatives, so every vote will count.
What is included in the financing agreement?
The agreement agreed over the weekend extends federal government funding until Jan. 30.
It also includes annual funding for the Department of Agriculture, as well as military construction and legislative funding.
The bill also includes guarantees that all federal employees will be paid for their time during the shutdown, as well as funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food assistance to one in eight Americans through next September.
The package includes an agreement for a December vote to extend health care subsidies that are set to expire this year, a key issue on which Democrats have sought concessions.
Democratic leaders have said they will not support new government funding until Congress considers subsidies that help tens of millions of Americans pay for health insurance purchased through government exchanges.
The agreement was struck between Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House, with Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Some senior Democrats have sharply criticized colleagues who sided with Republicans to end the shutdown without specific health care guarantees, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously calling the decision “pathetic.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the House minority leader, said the package “does nothing meaningful to address America's health care crisis.”
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine was among the group of Democrats who voted for the compromise. He responded to that criticism and said the federal employees he represents “said thank you” for agreeing to the deal.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has promised to pass the health care subsidy measure by the second week of December, but in the House, Johnson said he would not bring the measure to a vote.
Trump, meanwhile, signaled earlier Monday that he is willing to sign the funding bill if it passes the House of Representatives.
“We're going to open up our country very quickly,” he told reporters in the Oval Office, adding: “It's a very good deal.”
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