US Shutdown Nears End as Senate Passes Deal, House Readies Vote

A record-setting 42-day US government shutdown is on a path to end as soon as Wednesday after the Senate passed a temporary funding measure backed by a group of eight centrist Democrats.

Reopening the government now depends on the Republican-controlled House, which plans to return to Washington Wednesday to consider the spending package. It would keep most of the government open through Jan. 30 and some agencies through Sept. 30.

Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects the funding will pass quickly. If approved, the bill goes to Donald Trump for his signature and the president has already endorsed the legislation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson during a news conference at the US Capitol on Nov. 10.

Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg

Chances for passage in the House were bolstered by Representative Andy Harris, chairman of the hardline conservative Freedom Caucus, who offered conditional support.

The Senate’s 60-40 vote Monday to approve the funding came amid escalating flight disruptions, food aid delays and frustrations in a federal workforce that has mostly gone without pay for more than a month.

The Democratic moderates reached a deal that dropped the party’s demand to renew expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, infuriating progressives who had rallied to the high-stakes confrontation with Trump.

It could still take days for air travel to return to normal and probably longer for most of the 42 million low-income Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to receive delayed benefits. Lengthy backlogs and delays are likely across the federal government as it reopens.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks to the media at the US Capitol on Nov. 10.

Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg

The Democratic centrists brought the shutdown to an end by settling for a Republican promise that the Senate will vote by mid-December on extending the Obamacare insurance premium credits. There is no guarantee enough Republicans will support subsidies for a renewal to pass the Senate. Johnson has said he won’t promise a House vote on the matter.

The moderate group broke with the party, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. The climbdown stoked anger across the party just days after Democrats were celebrating surprisingly strong victories in state and local elections on a campaign promoting action to address the cost of living.

Read More: Democrats Trade Election Euphoria for Angst Over Shutdown Deal

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom called the deal “pathetic” while Illinois Governor JB Pritzker slammed a Senate vote on Democratic demands as an “empty promise.”

“I think it’s a terrible mistake,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said. “The American people want us to stand and fight for health care, and that’s what I believe we should do.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren in the Senate Subway of the US Capitol on Nov. 10.

Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries also criticized the plan to re-open the government, saying Democrats in his chamber wouldn’t support it.

The deal demonstrates how difficult it is for Democrats to use what little leverage they have in a Republican-controlled Washington to push back on Trump’s agenda.

Senate Republican leader John Thune had offered Democrats a future vote on health care subsidies weeks ago. Trump and GOP lawmakers repeatedly said they wouldn’t engage on health-care negotiations until after the shutdown ended.

“It wasn’t going to happen,” Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who typically votes with Democrats, said. He added that they spent “almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts” to get the Obamacare credits added to the spending bill.

Read More: Shutdown Deal Leaves Popular Obamacare Subsidies on Shaky Ground

There are some silver linings for Democrats: polls showed that the public blamed Republicans more than their own party for the congressional deadlock throughout the shutdown. The fight forced the Trump administration into a politically perilous argument pushing for states to withhold food aid for 42 million low-income Americans.

And the issue at the heart of their shutdown fight — renewing tax credits for Obamacare health coverage — remains a broadly popular issue as 24 million Americans face premium hikes that could mean paying hundreds of dollars more each month for insurance.

“The electorate has been crystal clear about what they care about and that’s higher prices, affordability across the board and the electorate knows who to blame for the affordability crisis in this economy: It’s MAGA Republicans,” Democratic Representative Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts.

The bill funds the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments along with the Food and Drug Administration, military construction projects and Congress itself through Sept. 30.

It would also pay all federal workers who were denied pay during the shutdown and forbid any federal layoffs through Jan. 30.

(Updates with Auchincloss comment)

--With assistance from Derek Wallbank and Jon Herskovitz.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net;
Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net;
Jamie Tarabay in Washington at jtarabay2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Scully at mscully32@bloomberg.net

Mike Dorning

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