The Senate made substantial headway toward restarting the government Sunday, as a number of Senate Democrats conceded and sided with Republicans in their effort to approve a revised plan to end the shutdown.
Evidence that the shutdown, which reached its 40th day, might be ending became increasingly apparent as the day progressed, especially with the introduction of a bipartisan collection of spending measures that legislators intend to attach to a modified bill to reopen the government.
Eight Senate Democrats crossed party lines to represent the initial move in the GOP’s effort to conclude the shutdown. A number of the lawmakers who broke away from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., were among those participating in bipartisan discussions over the past several weeks.
Among the defectors were Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jacky Rosen, D-N.M., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
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“The question was, does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits? Our judgment was that it will not,” King stated. “It would not produce that result. And the evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen.”
Schumer and Senate Democrats had long maintained that they would only vote to restart the government in return for a firm agreement on extending expiring Obamacare subsidies.
However, the solution crafted over the past several days did not include this. While there were some successes in the updated continuing resolution (CR), such as reversals of some of the firings of furloughed employees initiated by the Trump administration and ensuring back pay for furloughed employees, there was no certain victory in sight regarding the Obamacare issue.
This suggests that Senate Democrats essentially yielded with minimal gains for their healthcare initiative, except for the assurance of a vote on the subsidies from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., which was reflected in the updated CR.
Schumer criticized the compromise agreement, asserting that when Republicans rejected Democrats’ own counter-proposal that would have extended the expiring subsidies for a year, “They showed that they are against any health care reform.”
“This healthcare crisis is so severe, so urgent, so devastating for families back home that I cannot, in good faith, support this CR that fails to address the healthcare crisis,” Schumer stated.
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Thune expressed optimism that the plan would be effective and repeated his promise of a vote on the expiring subsidies. Nevertheless, any legislation created to address the Obamacare issue is likely to fail.
“Regardless, as I have said for weeks to my Democrat friends, I will schedule a vote on their proposal, and I’ve committed to having that vote no later than second week in December,” he said.
Progressives in the caucus were also dissatisfied with the developments.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, claimed that it would be a “horrific mistake” for Democrats to concede now without an Obamacare agreement.
“If Democrats cave on this issue, what it will say to Donald Trump is that he has a green light to go forward toward authoritarianism,” Sanders said. “And I think that would be a tragedy for this country.”
Still, there is considerable progress to be made before the government officially reopens.
Sunday’s vote was the first in a series required in the Senate to modify the original House-passed continuing resolution and combine it with the three-bill spending package and updated CR, which, if approved, would reopen the government until Jan. 30, 2026.
Lawmakers are hopeful that, given the additional time, they can complete funding the government with spending measures instead of resorting to another CR or massive omnibus spending package, which combines all 12 government funding measures into one piece of legislation.
“If we blow this window, we’re going to get stuck with a yearlong CR,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., stated.
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Additionally, the shutdown will not conclude in the Senate, as the revisions to the legislation will require approval from the House before reaching President Donald Trump’s desk.
Democrats could still cause difficulties through procedural obstacles unless all 100 senators unanimously agree to proceed with the remaining votes.
However, the Obamacare issue continues to be a point of contention on both sides of the aisle. Senate Republicans criticized the state of healthcare throughout Saturday, particularly concerning how the subsidies channeled funds to insurance firms.
Democrats remained uncertain if their dissatisfaction and desire to implement changes to challenge insurance firms were genuine.
“The point, I think that’s really relevant here, is if they’re serious, and I really question whether that’s the case,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., stated.
