He Senate of The United States has approved this Monday a package of measures of financing what unlock the way to end the longest government shutdown in the country’s history at 41 days, after eight Democrats voted in favorin a highly criticized decision by the party that has led some of its members to call for the resignation of the leader of the minority caucus in the Upper House, Chuck Schumer.
Los republicansas on previous occasions, have not been able to count among their own with the vote of Rand Paul, but has once again added the support of Angus King, John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen, Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine and Dick Durbin, who is normally in charge of maintaining the voting discipline of his bench, as reported by the news portal ‘The Hill’.
The approval has arrived after, the day before, these eight Democratic senators agreed with the Republican majority to allow the reopening of the federal government in exchange for a future vote on the extension of the subsidies for the medical attentionthe main condition required by the Democrats for five weeks.
Counterparts
In this way, the Upper House has approved financing the military building, veterans related projects and the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch until September 30, 2026. In addition, it includes an interim measure to finance the rest of the Government until January 30 of next year and the reinstatement of the more than 4,000 federal employees laid off during the closure.
However, the rupture in the democrat lines has led progressive Bernie Sanders to lament the “very, very bad” decision of the senators of his caucus who have voted with the Republicans, arguing that it “increases health insurance premiums for more than 20 million Americans.”
The California Democratic Representative Ro Khannawho assured on Sunday that the Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer“it is no longer effective and should be replaced”, an assessment on which he insisted this Monday, asserting that “it is not up to the task.” “He has lost contact with the base of the party,” he added in an interview on CBS.
Seven weeks of battle
“He is the leader of the Senate. This agreement would never have happened if he had not approved it. Don’t believe me. Listen to other senators who claim to have kept Senator Schumer informed at all times,” he declared. Khanna has spoken in this way despite the fact that the head of the Democrats in the Upper House He has the support of his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, who has defended that he is an effective leader and that he should keep his position.
“The vast majority of Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumerhave waged a valiant battle over the past seven weeks, rejecting the partisan Republican spending bill 14 or 15 times, week after week, and continue to oppose this attempt to pass legislation that does not address the Republican health crisis by extending the tax credits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA),” Jeffries said this Monday, when the package of measures that does not address Democratic demands for aid was approved. in healthcare.
Within the framework of this debate, the Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheenwho voted in favor of the proposal, has defended his position. “All the people who oppose this agreement argue that maintaining the government closure was getting us nowhere,” he said, defending in statements to CNN that “they should direct their criticism to whoever is responsible (…), President (Donald) Trump.” His opinion has not been supported, however, by his daughter, Democratic congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen, who has assured that she “cannot support” the agreement because it did not extend subsidies for health insurance premiums.
By replacing the original text approved by the House of Representativesthe proposal is now moved to this instance, which has not held a vote since September 19 and is expected to do so again as soon as this Wednesday.
He federal shutdown In recent weeks, it has meant the expiration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds, on which more than 40 million people in the North American country depend, and the cancellation of thousands of flights before the lack of air traffic controllerss, while the suspension of government activities has threatened to contract the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the director of the White House National Economic Council, Kevin Hassent.
