Senate votes to end government shutdown, sending funding bill to the House

CNN
By Sarah Ferris, Morgan Rimmer, CNN
(CNN) — A small band of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Monday night to approve a funding measure to reopen the federal government — without securing their party’s demand to guarantee an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which help millions of Americans afford insurance.
The funding compromise will now go to the House, where GOP leaders are hopeful it could pass as soon as Wednesday and end the longest-ever US shutdown. The recently struck deal, which President Donald Trump is expected to sign, would restore critical services like federal food aid, as well as pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus crossed the aisle to join with Republicans in the 60 to 40 vote. One Republican voted in opposition: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
That shutdown has been politically painful on Capitol Hill. Republicans have repeatedly shouldered blame in recent polling for the funding lapse. And the deal, struck by Democratic centrists in the Senate, has ignited a fight within the party about its strategy in the already 41-day funding fight — and where they go next.
Most Democrats were eager to keep fighting even as centrists declared that with Trump dug in, there was no real chance of securing policy wins on health care. Instead, those centrists secured the promise of a future vote on a health care bill of their choosing, which Democrats are determined to win GOP support on. It is far from guaranteed, however, that the bill will survive the Senate, let alone the House.
The vote late Monday night caps a frenetic few days of negotiations inside the US Capitol, with quiet negotiations between the Senate centrists, GOP leaders and the White House throughout the weekend before formally unveiling their deal on Sunday. A bloc of eight members of the Democratic caucus took a critical first step to support that measure Sunday night, and all eight gave it final approval on Monday night.
Those eight lawmakers were: Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, Jacky Rosen and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
While he did not vote for the final deal, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has drawn fury from the party’s left for allowing those centrists to strike the deal without any real wins on the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will soon expire and hike premiums for millions of Americans.
Many Democrats in both chambers believe the party will be forced to relive the fight again on January 30, when the next tranche of funding runs out. The broader legislative package, however, would fund several key agencies, including ones that run federal food aid, as well as the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, and veterans programs, through the remainder of fiscal year 2026.
Now, attention will turn to House Speaker Mike Johnson and members of the House, who are making their way to Washington after being in their districts since mid-September.
The House plans to vote on the Senate-passed bill to reopen the federal government as early as 4 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer. The notice forecasts multiple votes that day.
The Republican speaker is likely to need the president’s help to muscle the package through his fractious conference in the coming days. But in an optimistic sign Monday, Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “I would say so” when asked if he personally approved of the deal making its way through the process on Capitol Hill.
“I think, based on everything I’m hearing, they haven’t changed anything, and we have support from enough Democrats, and we’re going to be opening up our country,” Trump said. “It’s too bad it was closed, but we’ll be opening up our country very quickly.”
CNN’s Ellis Kim contributed to this report.