Senate approves shutdown ending legislation, sending bill to the House for a vote : NPR

On the 41st day of the record government shutdown, the U.S. Senate voted 60 to 40 to approve a continuing resolution to reopen the government. Measure will fund most of the government through Jan. 30 and provide funding for some agencies through the end of next September.

But the shutdown will not end immediately. The US House of Representatives must also pass legislation that is not guaranteed before President Donald Trump can sign it into law.

Seven Democrats and one independent senator voted with nearly all Senate Republicans to approve the stopgap funding bill after more than a month of impasse that has left millions of federal workers unpaid, food aid benefits delayed and air travel disrupted.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only GOP non-voter.

Over the weekend, a bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement to end the quarantine after a series of negotiations have been on and off over the past few weeks. A procedural vote on the funding bill reached the required 60 votes late Sunday, setting up a vote on Monday.

The funding package includes provisions to reverse the Trump administration's cuts to federal workers during the shutdown, protection from further layoffs through the end of January, back pay for federal workers, and three appropriations bills, including one that would fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through September 30, 2026.

Deal Without Democratic Demands on Health Care

But the deal does not include an extension of the Affordable Care Act's premium subsidies, which are set to expire later this year. Most Democrats refused to vote for the funding measure, which did not include specific ways to maintain the subsidies.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Sunday that he will hold a vote by mid-December on a Democratic bill to extend the expiring subsidies. Throughout the shutdown, Thune said Republicans would only negotiate subsidies once the government reopened.

“This deal guarantees a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act premium tax break, something Republicans have been unwilling to do,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., wrote in a statement. “Legislators know that their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they may well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will.”

But most Senate Democrats disagreed that it was the best deal they could get, doubting Republicans would agree to extend the subsidies without the pressure of ongoing shutdowns. After Democratic victories on election night last week, some senators said backing down was a mistake.

“While there is still time to repeal the MAGA health care increase, I believe we must do everything we can to force Republicans to the table,” wrote Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, which debated three annual funding bills.

Funding measures for the full year include money for agriculture, military construction, veterans affairs and the Legislature. Those are just three of 12 appropriations bills Congress must pass before the continuing resolution expires again at the end of January.

To the house

House leadership warned members Monday morning that they would be given 36 hours notice before returning to Capitol Hill to vote. The House has not conducted official business since the chamber passed its version of the continuing resolution in mid-September. While Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson held almost daily news conferences at the Capitol, many rank-and-file House members had not been there for weeks.

“The moment they take their final vote, I will urge every member of the House to come back as quickly as possible,” Johnson told reporters Monday and, noting ongoing quarantine-related air travel delays, told House members, “You need to start getting back on the Hill now.”

Getting the measure through the House may require some arm-twisting. Many Democrats have said they will not support the agreement, and some conservative Republicans may also be reluctant to vote for it.

But on Monday, Johnson expressed confidence that the measure could pass and said Trump was willing to sign it. The Speaker, however, has so far refused to promise that the ACA will be voted on in the House if the bill passes the Senate.