AP | Washington
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appeared on track Monday after a handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to break the impasse in what has become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services, the longest in history.
What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal drew sharp criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation provides funding to reopen the government, including for SNAP food aid and other programmes, while also ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers the Trump administration had left in doubt.
But notably lacking is any clear resolution to expiring health care subsidies that Democrats have been fighting for as millions of Americans stare down rising insurance premiums. That debate was pushed off for a vote next month, weeks before the subsidies are set to expire.
President Donald Trump noted the deal as he arrived at the White House after watching the Washington Commanders’ game on Sunday evening against the Detroit Lions, on the 40th day of the funding lapse. “It looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending,” he said.
The bill cleared a procedural hurdle, 60-40, late Sunday, with eight Democrats joining most Republicans. In a rare dissent, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York voted against because it failed to fully address the health care funds.
It would next go to the House, where lawmakers have been away since September but were being told to prepare to return to Washington this week. Then, it’s to Trump’s desk for his signature.
As the deal moves through Congress; funding to reopen the government, for now. Funding to keep much of the federal government running for the next couple of months, to January 30, with a stopgap measure. It largely funds government operations at their current rates.
Yet in a breakthrough for what’s considered a more normal appropriations process, the package also includes several bills to fully fund other government operations including agricultural programs and military construction along with veterans’ affairs for the full fiscal year, through September 2026.
Additionally, the package ensures states would be reimbursed for money they spent to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and the Women, Infants and Children program, or WIC, running during the shutdown.
Republican Sen Susan Collins of Maine, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, said she was “relieved.”
“This shutdown has gone on far too long,” she said. “And I also think it’s highly significant that we’ll have three yearlong appropriations bills attached. Veterans Day is coming very soon, and it would be wonderful if we get the full-year Veterans Affairs bill signed into law.”
