After 40 days of the government shutdown, a small \u2014 but large enough \u2014 group of Democrats has caved. For more than a month, the party incessantly demanded Republicans get on board with its effort to protect expiring Obamacare subsidies, preventing significant premium hikes for millions of Americans. But on Sunday, several Senate Democrats broke ranks with their caucus, setting in motion an end to the shutdown without a promise of extending said tax credits.<\/p>\n
Sens. Angus King (I-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) voted in favor of the continuing resolution (CR) following the bipartisan deal.<\/p>\n
Most Republicans also supported the deal; Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has been voting \u201cno\u201d on the GOP CR for weeks, was the sole Republican who broke from his caucus, doing so for a series<\/a> of reasons<\/a> unrelated to most Democrats\u2019 objections to the bill.<\/p>\n The House Democratic leader almost immediately expressed his frustration with the deal after it became public, saying he will not be supporting the bill the Senate is expected to pass in the coming days.<\/p>\n \u201cHouse Democrats have consistently maintained that bipartisan legislation that funds the government must also decisively address the Republican health care crisis,\u201d House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a Sunday statement<\/a>. \u201cIt now appears that Senate Republicans will send the House of Representatives a spending bill that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits \u2026 We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n The bipartisan agreement includes a new CR that would fund the government until Jan. 30 alongside an Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Legislative Branch minibus that includes a reversal of federal employee layoffs that the Trump administration executed during the shutdown, part of an effort by Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to turn up the pressure on Democrats. The new CR text indicates the deal would also prevent any new layoffs until Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n Senate Democrats will also get a floor vote on the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies before the end of the year. That promise, of course, will not guarantee that the ACA bill will pass or that the House would take up the bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has already said he would not make a promise to bring a Democrat ACA bill to the floor. Republican senators, meanwhile, appear<\/a> interested<\/a> in a separate scheme to instead use at least some premium funds for flexible spending accounts, suggesting that they will not sign on to any Democratic-led effort in the upper chamber.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nothing in the deal would force President Donald Trump and the OMB to spend congressionally appropriated funds in the way it requires \u2014 which was a Democratic demand at the beginning of the shutdown. The administration, over the course of 2025, has repeatedly impounded congressionally approved funds and pushed for party line votes to \u201crescind\u201d funds that a bipartisan majority of senators appropriated.<\/p>\n The deal comes as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) crisis worsens, with the administration refusing to tap an emergency fund to feed hungry Americans, taking its opposition to doing so all the way to the Supreme Court and, per the New York Times<\/a>, warning states they could face penalties if they take steps to revive the program. The Senate deal would also include keeping SNAP funded by means of the minibus through Sept. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n The reality is House Republicans likely won\u2019t need House Democrats\u2019 support in order to pass the bill on the House floor. Nonetheless, many, across the Democratic Party political spectrum, voiced their discontent, with one, Ro Khanna (D-CA), calling for Schumer to be replaced<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can\u2019t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?\u201d Khanna asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this is the so-called \u2018deal,\u2019 then I will be a no,\u201d Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said in a Sunday statement<\/a> as news of the plan began to emerge. \u201cThat\u2019s not a deal.\u00a0 It\u2019s an unconditional surrender that abandons the 24 million Americans whose health care premiums are about to double.\u201d<\/p>\n