Senate Begins Voting on Deal to End Record 40-Day Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate began voting Sunday night on a bipartisan deal aimed at ending the longest government shutdown in American history, now in its 40th day, amid growing public pressure and mounting economic fallout just weeks before the holidays.

The breakthrough came after a group of Senate Democrats softened their earlier demands related to health care and reached an agreement with congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump’s White House. At least eight Democrats are expected to vote in favor of the negotiated deal, which includes the reversal of recent federal layoffs, a promise to hold a future vote on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, and the full reopening of the government through January 30.

Although Sunday’s votes mark a turning point in the standoff, the government will not reopen immediately. Both chambers of Congress must pass the agreement before it can be sent to Trump for his signature. The House, which has not convened for weeks, remains on a 48-hour return notice and is expected to take up the Senate’s bills later this week.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R–S.D.) said last week he did not believe the shutdown would stretch past Thanksgiving. The deal would fund the government through January 30 and provide full-year funding for key programs, including veterans’ benefits and food assistance. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would receive expanded funding through September.

A major component of the compromise involves a commitment to vote in December on legislation that could extend expiring Obamacare tax credits that help millions of Americans afford their health insurance premiums — the issue that has been at the center of the standoff.

The proposal would also reinstate thousands of federal workers laid off during the shutdown and bar additional terminations until January 30. Those layoffs had already been temporarily halted by a federal court order.

The shutdown’s effects have grown more severe in recent days. On November 7, thousands of federal employees missed another paycheck, and the Supreme Court ruled that the administration did not have to immediately pay full food assistance benefits. Two days later, more than a thousand flights were canceled or delayed as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that flight operations could be reduced to a “trickle” ahead of Thanksgiving if the government remained closed.

Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, urged Congress to act swiftly. “Virginians need to — and Virginians want to — see the government reopen,” she said.