Senators take first step toward reopening the government after historic shutdown : NPR

A bipartisan group of Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to reopen the government after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, voting on the measure’s first procedural step.

The deal would fund the government through Jan. 30 and include full-year funding for a trio of appropriations bills, including full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, through Sept. 30, 2026, or the end of the fiscal year.

The vote Sunday night was 60 to 40, with seven Democrats and one independent joining most Republicans to push the measure.

It marked the first but crucial step toward the measure’s approval in the Senate. Once the bill garnered the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, the remaining Senate votes will need only a simple majority. However, the legislation must still pass the House before the shutdown ends, allowing air traffic controllers and other federal workers to be paid and federal food benefits to resume, among other things.

Senate Democrats had previously voted against more than a dozen short-term spending measures in their fight to preserve health care subsidies. But as the pain of the shutdown continued to bite, some embraced more modest changes in the latest frame.

The continuing resolution to fund the government through the end of January would also include language to reverse any federal staff reductions that occurred during the shutdown, as well as protections against new layoffs through the end of the fiscal year, and retroactive pay for all federal employees during the shutdown.

“I have long said that to earn my vote, we must be on the path to fixing Republicans’ health care problem and protecting the federal workforce,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in a statement. “This deal guarantees a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits, something Republicans were unwilling to do.”

The deal to reopen the government is also expected to include a Senate vote on health care before the second week of December, on a bill chosen by Democrats. This informal agreement is not part of the legislative text.

Democrats are deeply divided over the compromise measure, which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer opposed.

“I think it’s a terrible mistake,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said of the deal. “The American people want us to stand strong and fight for health care.”

Democratic divisions over legislation

Several top House Democrats also vowed to vote against the bill.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized the deal in a statement before the Senate vote.

“We will not support spending legislation introduced by Senate Republicans that does not extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” Jeffries said in a statement. “We will fight the Republican bill in the House of Representatives, where Mike Johnson will be forced to end the seven-week vacation funded by Republican taxpayers.”

And Democratic Rep. Greg Casar of Texas called the deal “betrayal” and “capitulation” because it doesn’t reduce health care costs.

The House has not held a vote since Sept. 19 and previously passed a government funding measure without Democratic support.

The Senate deal on government funding comes after Democrats notched a series of election victories in the past week, giving some members of the party new political confidence to continue fighting for health care extensions.

Many Democrats believed that keeping the government closed gave them their only legislative influence, while Republicans still controlled Congress and the White House.

Moderate Democrats defended their votes, with some telling reporters it was the best deal they could make.

Kaine, one of the Democrats who voted for the measure on Sunday, defended his support, saying Democrats could bring important health care bills to a vote.

“Legislators know that their constituents expect them to vote yes, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the polls by someone who does,” he said in his statement.