House votes to end longest ever shutdown : NPR

President Trump signed a government funding bill, heading toward the longest government shutdown in history that has affected millions of Americans and ended with little political gain.

The bill passed on Wednesday evening. despite the Republicans' slight advantage in the House of Representatives. Six Democrats Joining fellow Republicans to push the bill across the finish line 43 days into the shutdown were Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Adam Gray of California, Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Glusenkamp Perez of Washington and Tom Suozzi of New York.

Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida, voted against it. The final vote was 222 to 209.

President Trump signed the bill shortly after the House vote. Trump blamed Democrats for stopping the signing of the agreement in the Oval Office.

“It was an easy extension, but they didn't want to do it the easy way,” Trump said. “They wanted to do it the hard way.”

In addition to extending last year's spending levels through the end of January for most of the government, the bill provides funding for some agencies through the end of next September, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments. The program, which provides food assistance to nearly one in eight Americans, is at a standstill. trial due to shutdown.

The bill includes a measure to reverse layoffs imposed by the Trump administration during the shutdown, provides for back pay for federal workers and establishes protections against further layoffs.

But the main problem underlying the whole closure is extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year — is not considered in the bill.

Instead, within agreement reached with a bipartisan contingent of senatorsSenate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to hold a vote in mid-December on a bill drafted by Democrats aimed at expanding those subsidies.

That doesn't sit well with many Senate Democrats, who remain wary of the promise.

“Shaking hands with my Republican colleagues to reopen the government and not guaranteeing actual cost savings is simply not good enough,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat who voted against the measure.

Even if the December bill dealing with expiring subsidies passes the Senate, it will have to go to the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has given no assurances that he would bring such a bill to a vote.

Lots of pain, little gain

Government shutdowns have historically not been an effective tool for achieving party political goals. The last six weeks have proven that this is the rule, not the exception.

Senate Democrats' decision not to fund the government until October 1 was driven, at least in part, by demands from the Democrats' political base to become a strong opposition party. The party has focused on the promise that they will not fund the government unless Republicans agree to expand subsidies for people who buy health care through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

The decision came after key Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, voted with Republicans to avoid shutdown in March. The result was an angry Democratic base that demanded that the minority party use what little leverage it had to force Republicans to negotiate in exchange for their votes to fund the government.

With subsidies expiring and premiums skyrocketing as a result, Senate Democrats stood firm during the October shutdown, hoping that their determination, coupled with the shutdown's devastating effects on millions of Americans, would bring Republicans to the negotiating table.

But the strategy ultimately didn't work. Republicans did not budge and continued to hold regular votes on government funding.

At this time, 42 million Americans participate in the SNAP program did not receive the food assistance they were counting on. Air traffic controllers and most TSA employees were forced to remain on the job without pay, leading to order to reduce flights. Millions of federal employees are left without pay.

The group of seven Democrats and one independent senator who voted to end the shutdown acknowledged that waiting longer would not lead to a different outcome.

“There was no guarantee that waiting would get us a better outcome, but there was a guarantee that waiting would cause more ordinary people to suffer,” Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, told NPR.

The result is an end to the shutdown, which fails to meet Democrats' core demand for subsidies. Instead, they have to defend a handshake agreement that they say was once insufficient.

Thune's final deal with Democrats is consistent with his repeated statements throughout the shutdown that Republicans would be open to negotiations on expiring subsidies only after the government was funded, not before.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, one of six Democrats who voted for the bill in the House, said there is still room to address health care.

“Congress still has the opportunity to pass bipartisan legislation to extend the ACA premium tax credit,” Golden said in a statement. “In September, I joined a bipartisan coalition in the House of Representatives to advance legislation to extend the loans by one year, and now that the shutdown is over, I encourage members of both parties who care about affordable health care to come back to the table so we can get the job done.”

Another factor that has not gone the Democrats' way is the president himself. President Trump has been known to disrupt the game plan of congressional Republicans from time to time. But he took a step back during the shutdown and let Thune direct the GOP strategy. He didn't fall for the Democrats' bait. repeatedly asked Where Trump The “Great Negotiator” was present in the discussions.

What's happening now?

Both parties face important choices that could set the stage for their political successes and headaches in the coming year.

Senate Democrats have about a month to craft a bill that would address the expiring ACA subsidies in a way that will attract enough Republicans to pass it.

If they succeed in securing an extension, Democrats could enter 2026 with a political victory in hand that will determine their position heading into the midterm elections. If Republicans don't support it, Democrats still have what they consider a winning issue – health care – to resolve next year.

Some Republicans showed interest in addressing the subsidy problem, but want to implement reforms such as fraud prevention and income caps.

And both sides have to come to terms with the fact that the government is only funded for a few months. Congress will still have to pass nine more appropriations bills before the current resolution ends.