The measure was sent to the Oval Office, where it was signed by Trump
The House of Representatives of the United States Congress approved an agreement that puts an end to the longest government shutdown in the country’s history, which lasted 43 days, after disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.
This Wednesday, the Chamber approved the bill that the Senate had presented on Monday to reopen the Government with a vote of 222 in favor, including votes in favor from six Democrats, and 209 against, with two Republicans joining their votes to reject the project.
The measure was sent to the Oval Office, where the President of the United States, Donald Trump, called on the press to sign the agreement in front of the cameras and put an end to the biggest shutdown in the country’s history.
Deputies to the lower house of the US Parliament returned to the country’s capital this week, after almost eight weeks of absence, to approve an agreement that appears to have further antagonized the positions of Democrats and Republicans.
The Democrats wanted to include in the agreement the extension of funding for the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare – which consists of health insurance provided to low-income households -, which ends at the end of the year and which ended up being left out of this bill, with the Republican commitment to be discussed separately.
Given some reactions among Republicans, however, the commitment may be forgotten. “We warned you 43 days ago, from experience, that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
“They never reach the announced goal. And now guess what? You still haven’t reached that goal and you won’t reach it,” added Cole, in a reference to Obamacare.
If the strike had revealed the divisions between the two parties within Congress, the separation of positions became even clearer when lawmakers debated the immediate spending bill on the House floor, with Republicans accusing Democrats of using the suffering caused by blocking spending to prevail in a political dispute.
“They knew it would cause suffering and they did it anyway,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson.
On the other hand, Democrats accuse Republicans of having rushed to approve tax benefits at the beginning of the year that, they say, mainly benefit the richest, to now impose a project that “leaves families to the mercy of fate, with no guarantee that there will ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help ordinary people pay for their health care”, in the words of the Democratic representative for Massachusetts, Jim McGovern.
On the other hand, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries made it clear that Democrats will not give up on extending Obamacare, even if the vote on this project had not been favorable in this particular aspect. “This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started,” he added.
The House of Representatives has not met in a legislative session since September 19, the day it approved a short-term measure to keep the Government running when the new budget year began in October.
Mike Johnson then sent lawmakers home after that vote and handed over to the Senate the responsibility for reaching an agreement that would guarantee funding for the Administration, at least, until the end of January, saying that House Republicans had done their job.
This agreement was reached by the Senate last Monday with the support of eight senators, seven Democrats and one independent. The law that Trump will now sign funds three annual spending bills and extends the remainder of the Government’s funding until January 30.
In return, Republicans promised to vote by mid-December to extend funding for health subsidies, but there is no guarantee that the promise will be fulfilled.
