Government shutdown live updates as Senate moves forward with deal to end impasse

The decision by eight Democratic senators to embrace a deal to end the government shutdown has infuriated many members of the party, with critics saying the lawmakers abandoned the 40-day fight without serious concessions on the health care tax credits that were central to Democrats’ demands.

“Pathetic,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “There’s no way to defend this,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut argued. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said “it would be a policy and political disaster for the Democrats to cave.”

The reaction is a reflection of the frustration among many Democrats, particularly progressives, who had urged their party to keep fighting after the strong Democratic performance in last week’s elections. But the shutdown’s ongoing toll was ultimately too steep for some of the party’s more moderate members to stomach.

The resulting deal has exposed fault lines within the party that could reverberate over the months ahead and frame the party’s internal debate heading into the primaries for next year’s midterm elections. And it has led some congressional Democrats and progressive groups to call for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down, despite his personal opposition to the agreement.

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said most Senate Democrats put up a “valiant fight” over the course of the shutdown, and declined to criticize the eight senators who crossed the aisle.

“I don’t have much to say about those individuals, and they’re going to have to explain themselves to their constituents and to the American people,” Jeffries said at a press conference at the Capitol. “I certainly believe that Senate Democrats, the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, have waged a valiant fight over the last seven weeks, defeating the partisan Republican spending bill 14 of 15 different times, week after week, and continue to oppose this effort of passing legislation that does not address the Republican health care crisis.”

The New York Democrat said the fight over health care “is getting ready to shift back to the House, where we’re going to work hard [to] hold the Republicans accountable,” Jeffries said, saying GOP members “can no longer hide,” referring to the extended absence of the lower chamber, which last voted on Sept. 19.

At a press conference at the Capitol, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked about calls from some Democrats for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down from leadership.

“Some Democrats in your own caucus are suggesting Schumer is ineffective as Senate Democratic leader and should be replaced. You, of course, are critical of this deal. Do you view him as effective, and should he keep the job?” a reporter asked.

“Yes and yes,” Jeffries replied.

The majority leader said he expects the president to sign the funding package if it clears the Senate and the House.

“Will President Trump sign this deal?” a reporter asked.

“I would expect he would, yeah,” Thune said, noting that he hadn’t spoken to him since Sunday night’s vote.

“Does he support the RIF language in the bill?” another reporter asked, referring to provisions that reverse reductions in force the administration tried to implement during the shutdown and prohibit further layoffs through January.

“I think the White House was involved in all the discussions around that subject,” Thune said.

Leaving the Senate floor, Thune told reporters that he sees a “path forward” on negotiating a solution for high health care costs once the shutdown is over. 

“Obviously it can’t be without reforms. But my expectation is at some point, the president is going to be very inclined to want to do something to make health care more affordable in this country,” Thune said. “Obviously, what we have today isn’t working, so if there is a willingness on the part of Democrats to work with Republicans to deal with the unaffordability of Obamacare in its current form, then there might be an opportunity to do something bipartisan.”

Thune said he hasn’t spoken to Speaker Mike Johnson recently about the potential for a House vote on the health insurance tax credits: “My commitment was to have that vote here, and they’ll have to figure out what to do in the House.”

Republicans have long held that they are willing to negotiate on the health care issues, but not until the government is reopened. The South Dakota Republican said the “immediate objective is to get the government open and enable those conversations to commence.” 

“There are Democrats and Republicans who are both interested in trying to do something in the health care space,” he added. “And clearly, there is a need. There is an affordability issue on health care that has to be addressed, and the current trajectory we’re on isn’t a sustainable path.”

Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor that he is asking senators to help speed up the process of final passage on the legislation that would end the shutdown.

“I’m glad to be able to say that eight Democrats joined Republicans last night to take the first step to reopen the government. In the very near future, we will be voting on a final package — a clean continuing resolution until Jan. 30 and three bipartisan, full-year appropriations bills,” he said.

He added that he hopes “the very near future” means “hours, and not days.”

“I ask all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, of both parties, to make it possible for us to quickly pass this bill,” Thune said.

The deal still needs to clear several procedural hurdles to incorporate all elements of the agreement, namely the substitution of the current text with the new continuing resolution and the three year-long funding bills. That process could take days if a single senator chooses to slow-walk final passage, but the chamber could act quickly if there is consensus on moving forward.

The Senate convened at 11 a.m. to consider the motion to proceed to the House-passed continuing resolution. 

No votes are currently scheduled, but Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office said “roll call votes are expected during Monday’s session of the Senate.”

Writing on Truth Social, President Trump said air traffic controllers must return to work and that those who have continued to report for duty could receive a bonus.

“All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially ‘docked,'” he wrote. “For those Air Traffic Controllers who were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn’t take ANY TIME OFF for the ‘Democrat Shutdown Hoax,’ I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country. For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU.”

Flight disruptions have continued, largely due to staffing shortages, despite the Senate deal. As of early Monday, more than 1,500 flight cancellations were reported and over 1,400 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware.

Mr. Trump wrote that controllers who stopped showing up for work during the shutdown “will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record.”

“If you want to leave service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, with NO payment or severance of any kind!” he said.

Johnson noted that air travel remains snarled due to flight reductions over staffing levels, and urged his colleagues in the House to begin returning to Washington in anticipation of a vote this week on a final deal.

“I’m stating the obvious to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House: You need to begin right now returning to the Hill. We need to do this as quickly as possible,” the speaker said. 

“We look forward to the government reopening this week, so Congress can get back to our regular legislative session. We have a lot of business to do, as you all know, and we will be working in earnest,” he added. “There will be long days and long nights here in the foreseeable future to make up for all this lost time that was imposed upon us.”

The speaker ended his remarks without taking questions.

At his daily shutdown press conference at the Capitol, Johnson welcomed the Senate’s action, and said the end of the funding lapse is in sight. 

“It’s 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. It appears to us this morning that our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that,” Johnson said. 

He added: “At least some Democrats now finally appear ready to do what Republicans and President Trump and millions of hardworking American people have been asking them to do for weeks. As we said from the beginning, the people’s government cannot be held hostage to further anyone’s political agenda.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, one of the Democrats who voted to advance the measure on Sunday night, told “CBS Mornings” that “keeping the government shut down for another week or another month doesn’t indicate that there would be any change in the outcome.” Shaheen was one of the main Democratic negotiators in the talks that produced the deal.

“We stood up to President Trump for 40 days, and let’s remember why we’re in this position: It’s because President Trump and Republicans in the Senate and House refused to fund health care to keep costs affordable,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen cited the federal employees who have been going without paychecks, as well as SNAP recipients whose benefits had been in question, as reasons for her support of the proposal.

While the eight Democrats who voted for the deal have been criticized by others in their party — as has Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for allowing it happen — Shaheen insisted that those critical should instead be focused on Mr. Trump and Republicans.

“The fact is, what this agreement is going to do is it’s going to force Speaker Johnson to bring the House back in. He’s been out since the beginning of September,” Shaheen said. 

The final vote on advancing the House-passed continuing resolution was 60 to 40. 

Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican to move forward on the bill:

• Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada
• Dick Durbin of Illinois
• John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
• Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire
• Tim Kaine of Virginia
• Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats
• Jacky Rosen of Nevada
• Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire

GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to vote against advancing the measure.

House members were notified late Sunday that votes related to government funding are expected in the lower chamber this week, pending final passage of the funding measure in the Senate. 

The whip notice said members will be given 36 hours’ notice of a vote. 

The House last voted on Sept. 19.

The Senate voted to advance a House-passed measure to fund the government late Sunday evening, marking a key breakthrough in the stalemate and paving the way to reopen the government later this week.

In a 60 to 40 vote, eight Democrats joined Republicans to advance the House-passed measure, which had fallen short on 14 previous votes. 

Senate GOP leaders are expected to move to amend the legislation to attach a package of full-year appropriations bills as part of a deal to end the shutdown, along with an extension of the temporary funding measure to keep the government funded through January. 

The vote marks the start of what could be a lengthy series of procedural votes in the Senate, since any one senator can slow the process down. Once through the Senate, the House would also have to approve the legislation before it could receive the president’s signature.