Senate approves bill to end record government shutdown

By Mary Clare Jalonick Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking Associated Press WASHINGTON The Senate passed regulation Monday to reopen the cabinet bringing the longest shutdown in history closer to an end as a small group of Democrats ratified a deal with Republicans despite searing criticism from within their party The -day shutdown could last a limited more days as members of the House which has been on recess since mid-September return to Washington to vote on the statute President Donald Trump has signaled sponsorship for the bill saying Monday that we re going to be opening up our country very expeditiously The final Senate vote - broke a grueling stalemate that lasted more than six weeks as Democrats demanded that Republicans negotiate with them to extend strength care tax credits that expire Jan 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 House Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to start returning to Washington right now given shutdown-related expedition delays but an official notice issued after the Senate vote reported the earliest the House will vote is Wednesday afternoon It appears our long national nightmare is at last coming to an end explained Johnson who has kept the House out of session since mid-September when the House passed a bill to continue ruling body funding How the stalemate ended After weeks of negotiations A group of three former governors New Hampshire Sen Jeanne Shaheen New Hampshire Sen Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen Angus King of Maine agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of authorities funding until late January Republicans promised to hold a vote to extend the soundness care subsidies by mid-December but there was no guarantee of success Shaheen mentioned Monday that this was the option on the table after Republicans had refused to budge We had reached a point where I think a number of us presumed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about soundness care she reported and the promise for a future vote gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward The measure includes a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began on Oct It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over 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 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 The moderates had expected a larger number of Democrats to vote with them as to Democratic senators had been part of the negotiations But in the end only five switched their votes the exact number that Republicans needed King Cortez Masto and Fetterman had already been voting to open the administration since Oct Countless Democrats call the vote a mistake Schumer who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the executive open noted he could not in good faith help it after meeting with his caucus for more than two hours on Sunday We will not give up the fight Schumer disclosed adding that Democrats have now sounded the alarm on vitality care Independent Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats revealed giving up the fight was a horrific mistake Sen Chris Murphy D-Conn agreed saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week s elections were urging them to hold firm House Democrats swiftly criticized the Senate Texas Rep Greg Casar the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus noted a deal that doesn t reduce wellbeing care costs is a betrayal of millions of Americans who are counting on Democrats to fight Others gave Schumer a nod of patronage House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had criticized Schumer in March after his vote to keep the leadership open But he praised the Senate Democratic leader on Monday and expressed assistance for his leadership throughout the shutdown The American people know we are on the right side of this fight Jeffries stated Monday pointing to Tuesday s poll results Physical condition care debate ahead It s unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the soundness care subsidies before a promised December vote in the Senate House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La has revealed he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber On Monday Johnson revealed House Republicans have perpetually been open to voting to transformation what he called the unaffordable care act but again did not say if they would vote on the subsidies Various Republicans have stated they are open to extending the COVID- -era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies Selected argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins noted Monday that she s supportive of extending the tax credits with changes like new income caps Various Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea We do need to act by the end of the year and that is exactly what the majority leader has promised Collins explained 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 In a feasible preview the Senate voted - 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 rule to the House Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim Michelle Price and Stephen Groves contributed to this summary