Senate passes deal to reopen U.S. Government – Time in Shutdown: 41 days, 7 hours, 54 minutes!

The Senate, with the help of Democratic defectors, passed a bill to end the longest government shutdown without the health insurance subsidies Democrats long demanded. The earliest the House will vote is Wednesday, ‘The New York Time’ reports.

The Senate passed legislation on Monday night to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, after a critical splinter group of Democrats joined with Republicans and backed a spending package that omitted the chief concession their party had spent weeks demanding.

The 60-to-40 vote, on Day 41 of the shutdown, signaled a break in the gridlock that has shuttered the government for weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, millions of Americans at risk of losing food assistance and millions more facing air-travel disruptions.

The measure goes next to the House, which is expected to take it up no sooner than Wednesday and where the small Republican margin of control and intense Democratic opposition could make for a close vote. President Trump has indicated that he will sign it.

The breakthrough came after eight senators in the Democratic caucus broke their own party’s blockade of spending legislation Republicans have been trying to pass for weeks to reopen the government, prompting a bitter backlash in their ranks.

They said they had done so after concluding that Republicans were never going to accede to Democrats’ central demand in the shutdown fight — the extension of federal health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year — while millions of Americans continued to suffer amid the federal closure.

“We had no path forward on health care because the Republicans said, ‘We will not talk about health care with the government shut down,’” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia. “And we had SNAP beneficiaries and those relying on other important services who were losing benefits because of the shutdown.”

It will still take days to reopen the government. Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday urged House members — who have not held a vote in nearly two months as they took an extended recess during the shutdown — to begin the process of returning to Washington “right now.”

At the White House, Mr. Trump said that he approved of the plan.

“We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” he said, calling the package “very good.”

While the legislation omits any mention of the tax credits, Democrats said they would accept an offer by Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, to hold a vote on the issue later this year, when the subsidies are set to expire.

“Trump and MAGA Republicans have been shutting down the government since Inauguration Day, gutting Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and engaging in the greatest health care heist in history — all to pay for tax cuts for CEO billionaires,” said Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts. “The American people want us to stop the heist, not drive the getaway car.”

The federal government is inching closer toward reopening this week after seven weeks of impasse

What exactly is the Senate deal? – ‘The Hill’ explains.

The Senate voted 60-40 to advance a bill to fund the government through Jan. 3, plus three funding bills through September 2026 that include the Department of Agriculture. It would also reverse the firings of federal workers during the shutdown. As far as the expiring ObamaCare subsidies that Democrats have pushed to extend, Republicans agreed to hold a separate vote on those by mid-December.

Who are the Democrats who voted to end the shutdown?: Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.) and Tim Kaine (Va.), plus Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) both oppose the deal. House Democrats are largely expected to reject the bill, while Republicans are still relying on a narrow majority.

Other Democrats Are Furious

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Sunday’s procedural push for the funding bill “a very bad night” with a “very, very bad vote.”

Schumer, in particular, is already getting blowback. Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) called on Senate Democrats to replace Schumer. And progressive Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) also slammed the Democratic leader.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is calling on Senate Democrats to replace Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as leader after eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus voted Sunday to begin the process of reopening the federal government.

“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?” Khanna wrote.

Progressive Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) also took a shot at Schumer, noting the Democratic leader did not endorse the party’s nominee for mayor in New York, Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, nor did he disclose for whom he cast his ballot.

“Don’t endorse or say who you voted for in NYC despite there being a Dem candidate. Get Dem Senators to negotiate a terrible “deal” that does nothing real about healthcare. Screw over a national political party. Profile of scourge? Next,” Pocan posted.

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