US Senate takes first step towards ending the government shutdown
Senate majority leader John Thune (J Scott Applewhite/AP)
The US Senate took the first step to end the government shutdown on Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies.
The move angered many in their caucus who say Americans want them to continue the fight.
In a test vote that is the first in a series of required procedural manoeuvres, the Senate voted 60-40 to move towards passing compromise legislation to fund the government and hold a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire January 1.
Final passage could be several days away if Democrats object and delay the process.
The agreement does not guarantee the Affordable Care Act subsidies will be extended, as Democrats have demanded for almost six weeks.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York voted against moving ahead with the package, along with all but eight of his Democratic colleagues.
A group of three former governors — New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire senator Maggie Hassan and Independent senator Angus King of Maine — broke the six-week stalemate on Sunday when they agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January in exchange for a mid-December vote on extending the health care tax credits.
The agreement also includes a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began on October 1 and would ensure that federal workers receive back pay.
Senate majority leader John Thune quickly endorsed the deal and called the immediate vote to begin the process of approving it as the shutdown continued to disrupt flights nationwide, threaten food assistance for millions of Americans and leave federal workers without pay.
“The time to act is now,” Mr Thune said.
Returning to the White House on Sunday evening after attending a football game, President Donald Trump did not say whether he endorsed the deal.
But he said: “It looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending.”
In addition to Ms Shaheen, Mr King and Ms Hassan, Democratic senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, home to tens of thousands of federal workers, also voted in favour of moving forward on the agreement.
Illinois senator Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat, Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman and Nevada senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes.
The moderates had expected a larger number of Democrats to vote with them as around 10-12 Democratic senators had been part of the negotiations.
But in the end, only five Democrats switched their votes — the exact number that Republicans needed. Mr King, Ms Cortez Masto and Mr Fetterman had already been voting to open the government since October 1.
The vote was temporarily delayed on Sunday evening as three conservatives who often criticise spending bills, Republican senators Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, withheld their votes and huddled with Mr Thune at the back of the chamber. They eventually voted yes after speaking to Mr Trump, Mr Lee said.
Another Republican, senator John Cornyn of Texas, had to fly back from Texas to deliver the crucial 60th vote.
After Democrats met for more than two hours to discuss the proposal, Mr Schumer said he could not “in good faith” support it.
Mr Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said that Democrats have now “sounded the alarm” on health care.
“We will not give up the fight,” he said.
Independent senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said that giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake”.
Democrats had voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demanded the extension of tax credits that make coverage more affordable for health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans said they would not negotiate on health care, but party leaders have been quietly working with the group of moderates as the contours of an agreement began to emerge.
The agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of the government — food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things. All other funding would be extended until the end of January, giving lawmakers more than two months to finish additional spending bills.
The deal would reinstate federal workers who had received reduction-in-force, or layoff, notices and reimburse states that spent their own funds to keep federal programmes running during the shutdown.
It would also protect against future reductions in force through January and guarantee federal workers would be paid once the shutdown is over.
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