{"id":284629,"date":"2025-11-11T04:46:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T04:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/284629\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T04:46:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T04:46:23","slug":"senate-approves-bill-to-end-the-shutdown-sending-it-to-the-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/284629\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate approves bill to end the shutdown, sending it to the House"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Senate passed legislation Monday to reopen the government, bringing the longest shutdown in history<\/a> closer to an end as a small group of Democrats<\/a> ratified a deal with Republicans despite searing criticism from within their party.<\/p>\n

The 41-day shutdown could last a few more days as members of the House, which has been on recess since mid-September, return to Washington to vote on the legislation<\/a>. President Donald Trump has signaled support for the bill, saying Monday that \u201cwe\u2019re going to be opening up our country very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final Senate vote, 60-40, broke a grueling stalemate that lasted more than six weeks as Democrats demanded that Republicans negotiate with them to extend health care tax credits that expire Jan. 1. The Republicans never did, and five moderate Democrats eventually switched their votes as federal food aid was delayed, airport delays worsened and hundreds of thousands of federal workers continued to go unpaid. <\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to start returning to Washington \u201cright now\u201d given shutdown-related travel delays, but an official notice issued after the Senate vote said the earliest the House will vote is Wednesday afternoon. <\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end,\u201d said Johnson, who has kept the House out of session since mid-September, when the House passed a bill to continue government funding. <\/p>\n

How the stalemate ended<\/p>\n

After weeks of negotiations, A group of three former governors \u2014 New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine \u2014 agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January. Republicans promised to hold a vote to extend the health care subsidies by mid-December, but there was no guarantee of success. <\/p>\n

Shaheen said Monday that \u201cthis was the option on the table\u201d after Republicans had refused to budge. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had reached a point where I think a number of us believed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about health care,\u201d she said, and the promise for a future vote \u201cgives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward.\u201d <\/p>\n

The legislation includes a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over.<\/p>\n

In addition to Shaheen, King and Hassan, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, home to tens of thousands of federal workers, also voted Sunday in favor of moving forward on the agreement. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes. All other Democrats, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, voted against it. <\/p>\n

The moderates had expected a larger number of Democrats to vote with them as 10 to 12 Democratic senators had been part of the negotiations. But in the end, only five switched their votes \u2014 the exact number that Republicans needed. King, Cortez Masto and Fetterman had already been voting to open the government since Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

Many Democrats call the vote a \u201cmistake\u201d <\/p>\n

Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said he could not \u201cin good faith\u201d support it after meeting with his caucus for more than two hours on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not give up the fight,\u201d Schumer said, adding that Democrats have now \u201csounded the alarm\u201d on health care. <\/p>\n

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a \u201chorrific mistake.\u201d Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week\u2019s elections<\/a> were urging them to \u201chold firm.\u201d <\/p>\n

House Democrats swiftly criticized the Senate. <\/p>\n

Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said a deal that doesn\u2019t reduce health care costs is a \u201cbetrayal\u201d of millions of Americans who are counting on Democrats to fight. <\/p>\n

Others gave Schumer a nod of support. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had criticized Schumer in March after his vote to keep the government open. But he praised the Senate Democratic leader on Monday and expressed support for his leadership throughout the shutdown. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people know we are on the right side of this fight,\u201d Jeffries said Monday, pointing to Tuesday\u2019s election results. <\/p>\n

Health care debate ahead <\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the health care subsidies before a promised December vote in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber. <\/p>\n

On Monday, Johnson said House Republicans have always been open to voting to reform what he called the \u201cunaffordable care act\u201d but again did not say if they would vote on the subsidies.<\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19-era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals. <\/p>\n

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins said Monday that she\u2019s supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, like new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe do need to act by the end of the year, and that is exactly what the majority leader has promised,\u201d Collins said. <\/p>\n

Other Republicans, including Trump, have used the debate to renew their yearslong criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled. <\/p>\n

In a possible preview, the Senate voted 47-53 along party lines Monday not to extend the subsidies for a year. Majority Republicans allowed the vote as part of a separate deal with Democrats to speed up votes and send the legislation to the House.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Michelle Price and Stephen Groves contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

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