The White House on Monday expressed support for a bipartisan deal to end the US shutdown, a key development that makes it likely the government will reopen within days.
President Donald Trump has wanted to reopen the government since the shutdown began and sees the deal as a positive development, a White House official said on condition of anonymity. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he spoke with Trump about the deal Sunday night and expects the president to sign it once Congress passes the bill.
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The Senate still has to work its way through potentially time-consuming procedures, and House members must return to Washington to vote for the first time since Sept. 19.
The Senate resumes negotiations on its deal with centrist Democrats on Monday, but has not yet scheduled a final approval vote. Thune said he hoped the vote would take place “in hours and not days.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would give House lawmakers 36 hours notice to return to the Capitol once the Senate passes the bill.
Flight disruptions and food aid delays are likely to continue until the shutdown officially ends. Still, Republicans took a victory lap Monday, and Johnson told reporters that the “nightmare,” now in its 41st day, was finally coming to an end.
Stocks rose Monday morning on bets that the shutdown will end soon, with the S&P 500 up more than 1% shortly after the market opened. The “Magnificent Seven” megacap index climbed over 2%. Bonds fell.
A deal by moderate senators did not guarantee an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that Democrats had staked their shutdown fight on, prompting a furious backlash within the party just days after many Democrats celebrated last week’s election victory.
California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom called the deal “pathetic”, while Illinois Governor Jay Pritzker denounced the Republican concessions in the deal as an “empty promise”.
Senate vote
The Senate took a major step toward reopening the federal government Sunday night when it voted 60-40 on a procedural measure to advance a temporary funding bill.
Under the deal, Congress would approve full-year funding for the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and Congress itself, while funding other agencies through Jan. 30. The bill would provide pay for furloughed government workers, restore withheld federal payments to states and localities, and recall agency employees who were laid off during the shutdown.
With the House due to return to Washington and promises to give lawmakers advance notice, the government will most likely reopen later in the week. One complicating factor is whether Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, imposes a days-long delay in the Senate to oppose a provision restricting the sale of intoxicating cannabis products.
Passage in the House is not guaranteed, although Johnson indicated on Monday that he expects there to be enough votes. Democratic leaders have spoken out against any deal that does not include extending Obamacare subsidies, which the bill does not. Conservative Republican members want a bill that would fund the entire government by next September 30.
“We have to do it as quickly as possible,” Johnson told reporters, adding that there could be some late nights ahead.
The fight for healthcare
The face-saving deal falls far short of the goals of House and Senate Democratic leaders, who have called for an extension of expiring Obamacare premium subsidies and a reversal of Medicaid cuts passed by Republicans earlier this year.
Democrats secured a promise from Senate Republicans to vote on a bill to restore tax credits under the Affordable Care Act by mid-December, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
“This is a big issue and it gives us a chance to test the Republicans,” Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who usually supports Democratic positions but supports temporary funding, said on MSNBC Monday morning. “It might not work out, I’ll admit, but a reasonable chance, ten, twenty, thirty percent, is a lot better than zero.
That promise, which Thune first offered weeks ago, was not satisfactory to all Democrats. It also doesn’t guarantee a House vote, but Thune said Monday he expects Trump to want to “do something about health care costs.”
Even the daughter of one of the moderate Democrats who helped broker the deal has publicly condemned the deal.
The shutdown nightmare is finally coming to an end.
“I cannot support this deal,” Stefany Shaheen, the daughter of Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and a New Hampshire congressional candidate, said in a social media post. “Too many people will see health care costs, which are already too high, skyrocket even further starting in January.”
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The impending resolution of the shutdown mirrors that of past showdowns where a party trying to use a government shutdown for political victories ends up without a victory. Trump failed to secure border wall funding through the 2018-2019 shutdown, and Republicans failed to repeal Obamacare during the 2013 shutdown.
