US Senate passes funding bill as historic shutdown nears end

The US Senate has passed a crucial funding bill that could end the longest government shutdown in history within days.

The bill was approved by a vote of 60 to 40 late Monday, with nearly all Republicans joining eight Democrats who broke with the party to approve it. The agreement funds the government until the end of January.

The House of Representatives will now have to pass the bill before President Donald Trump can sign it and take it into effect. Trump indicated he would be willing to do so earlier on Monday.

The deal came to fruition over the weekend, after some Democrats joined Republicans and negotiated an agreement to return federal employees to work and resume essential services.

Republicans – who have a 53-47 majority in the Senate – need the measure to pass the 60-vote threshold.

Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Katherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jacky Rosen, and Jeanne Shaheen broke with the rest of their party to vote in favor of the funding bill.

They were joined by Maine’s Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, who also voted to reopen the government.

Only one Republican in the Senate, Rand Paul from Kentucky, voted against the resolution, with a majority of Democrats.

The bill’s passage was announced to a largely empty chamber, but senators who stayed until the end cheered and applauded.

“We will reopen the government, and we will ensure that federal employees…will now receive the compensation they deserve and deserve,” Republican Senator Susan Collins said after its passage.

Many government services have been suspended since October, and about 1.4 million federal employees are on unpaid leave or working without pay.

The shutdown had wide-ranging impacts on a variety of services, including air travel in the United States and food benefits for 41 million low-income Americans.

On Monday, more than 2,400 flights were canceled across the United States, according to FlightAware, which tracks air traffic. At least 9,000 were delayed.

The funding bill will now move to the Republican-controlled House, where members have been out of session and away from Washington since mid-September.

On Monday, with an agreement approaching in the Senate, House Speaker Mike Johnson called on his members to return to Washington.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to begin debating the measure on Wednesday, although it is unclear exactly how much time the process might take.

Republicans have a two-seat majority in the House, so every vote will count.

The agreement negotiated over the weekend extends federal government funding through January 30.

It also includes full-year funding for the Department of Agriculture, as well as funding for military construction and legislative bodies.

The bill also includes guarantees that all federal employees will be paid for time during the shutdown, and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — which provides food assistance to one in eight Americans — through next September.

The package includes an agreement to vote in December on extending health care subsidies that are set to expire this year, a key issue on which Democrats have been demanding concessions.

Democratic Party leaders have said they will not lend their support to new funding for government operations until Congress addresses the issue of subsidies that help tens of millions of Americans pay for health insurance purchased through government-run exchanges.

The agreement was negotiated between Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House, with Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

Some prominent Democrats sharply criticized their colleagues who sided with Republicans to end the lockdown without concrete guarantees on health care, with California Governor Gavin Newsom earlier describing the decision as “pathetic.”

Senator Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s minority leader, said the package “failed to do anything substantive to fix America’s health care crisis.”

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine was among the group of Democrats who voted in favor of the settlement. He responded to that criticism, saying the federal workers he represents are “saying thank you” for agreeing to the deal.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised to adopt the health care support measure by the second week of December, but Johnson said in the House of Representatives that he would not put the measure to a vote.

Meanwhile, Trump indicated earlier Monday that he would be willing to sign the funding bill into effect if the House approves it.

“We will open our country very quickly,” he told reporters in the Oval Office, adding: “The agreement is very good.”

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