Democrats split as Senate votes to end shutdown

What happened

The Senate Monday night voted 60-40 to end the government shutdown, now in its 42nd day, with seven Democrats and one allied independent joining every Republican except Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). President Donald Trump said he would “abide by” the “very good” deal hatched by a group of moderate Senate Democrats and Republicans. But most congressional Democrats sharply opposed the package, which funds part of the government for a year and the rest through Jan. 30.

It does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Democrats’ main demand, though it reverses Trump’s thousands of federal layoffs since Oct. 1, bans new firings through January and ensures back pay for federal workers.

Who said what

Even though most Democrats and Paul opposed the spending bill, they “ultimately declined to slow-walk the process,” Politico said. “Republicans own this health care crisis,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “They knew it was coming. We wanted to fix it. Republicans said no, and now it’s on them.”

Democrats are “descending into bitter clashes” over the deal, Burgess Everett and David Weigel said at Semafor. “But when the shutdown is over, the media and the public will move onto the next issue” — and Democratic leaders view next month’s negotiated Senate vote to extend ACA credits as the “key to putting pressure back on Republicans” over health care costs set to spike across the U.S. in January.

Democrats “believe they now have an issue to run on,” as the “party fighting for lowering health care costs” while Trump “attempts to deny food stamps to needy families,” Luke Broadwater said in a New York Times analysis. “But Trump officials have also learned a lesson. If they wait out Democrats long enough — and turn up the pain enough — they will back down.”

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What next?

The House will begin voting on the shutdown-ending deal as early as Wednesday afternoon, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told lawmakers. The Senate was scheduled to start a weeklong break today, so the House has to pass the legislation as is if the government is to reopen in the coming days. With Trump’s support, passage is likely but not guaranteed, The Washington Post said. House Republicans “hold a slim margin — they can lose only two votes and still pass the bill if all Democrats vote against it.”