The United States Senate approved this morning an agreement sponsored by Republicans and supported by eight Democrats to allow its reopening, in a measure that now goes to the House of Representatives to end the longest closure in the country’s history.
After a day of eight votes, the Senate passed the provisional financing agreement with 60 in favor and 40 against.
The agreement was reached on the 41st day of the government shutdown, the longest in the history of the United States, and passes into the hands of the House of Representatives, which is expected to begin its sessions starting Wednesday.
The eight Democrats who broke away from their bloc and allowed the package to advance were: Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen, John Fetterman, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Tim Kaine, Dick Durbin and independent Angus King.
It was described as “frustrating” by Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, who said that those affected will be “24 million Americans who will potentially see their premiums increase,” because the approved agreement does not guarantee the extension of subsidies to health programs such as Obamacare that expires at the end of this year.
For their part, Republicans celebrated the agreements. Conservative Lindsey Graham told reporters that “the president is for it. If the president is for it, I think it will pass in the House of Representatives. I think it’s a good deal for the country.”
After the vote, American attention will turn to the House of Representatives and its speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, who has already called on House members to return to Washington before Wednesday, after having returned to their districts in mid-September.
The bases
The bipartisan compromise approved in the Senate combines three annual funding measures for different agencies with a provisional bill that would keep the rest of the federal agencies operational until January 30.
The deal would also reverse more than 4,000 layoffs the Trump administration had attempted to implement at the start of the shutdown and prohibit further cuts through the end of January, offering respite to a federal workforce hit by tens of thousands of layoffs this year.
However, the text does not include the extension of subsidies from the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which expire at the end of the year and whose end could raise medical costs for millions of Americans. Democrats had pushed to include that measure, but Republicans refused to discuss health policy before the government reopened.
The government shutdown, the longest in history, will remain in effect for at least 48 more hours and has so far caused thousands of flight cancellations, 1.3 million federal workers affected, as well as non-payment of the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP).
