US politicians return to vote to end government shutdown

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

House politicians will make a long-awaited return to the nation’s capital on Wednesday after nearly eight weeks away to potentially put an end to the longest federal government shutdown in US history.

The House is scheduled to take up a bill to reopen the government that the Senate passed on Monday night.

President Donald Trump called the measure a “very big victory”, and it is expected to pass the Republican-led chamber.

But the prospect of travel delays due to the shutdown could complicate the vote. Speaker Mike Johnson may need nearly perfect attendance from fellow Republicans to get the measure over the finish line.

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

The House has not been in legislative session since September 19. That is when it passed a short-term funding patch to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October.

Mr Johnson sent politicians home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans did their job.

Democrats seized on the opportunity to cast Republicans as going on holiday while the federal workforce went without paychecks, travellers experienced airport delays, and food assistance benefits expired.

The vast majority of Democratic politicians are expected to vote against the measure because it does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of this year and make coverage more affordable.

“Our strong expectation is that Democrats will be strongly opposed,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said on Tuesday night in previewing the vote.

But Mr Johnson said of the pending legislation that “our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that”.

“After 40 days of wandering in the wilderness and making the American people suffer needlessly, some Senate Democrats finally have stepped forward to end the pain,” Mr Johnson said.

The measure that passed the Senate included buy-in from eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using the measure to continue the expiring healthcare tax credits.

The compromise measure funds three bipartisan annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through January 30.

Republicans also promised to hold a vote to extend the healthcare subsidies by mid-December, but there is no guarantee of success.