Longest US government shutdown looks set to end after Democrats break ranks

Washington: The longest federal government shutdown in US history is poised to end after a number of centrist Democrats in the Senate broke ranks to support a bill that would restart funding and reverse the lay-offs of thousands of federal workers fired during the 40-day closure.

In a late-night session on Sunday (Monday AEDT), enough Democrats signed up to a plan to reopen the government – relenting on their demands for an immediate extension of expiring healthcare subsidies – that it should pass despite the objections of some colleagues.

The decision – which some Democrats will see as a capitulation – came as the consequences of the protracted shutdown intensified, with a dearth of air traffic controllers forcing mass flight cancellations, and millions of Americans losing food stamps they depend on to feed their families.

“This is a true crisis for those individuals,” said Angus King, an independent senator from Maine, explaining his decision to support the compromise.

Democrats had demanded that any deal to reopen the government include extended health insurance tax credits – an “Obamacare” policy – which are due to expire shortly.

But Jeanne Shaheen, a Democratic senator from New Hampshire, said weeks of negotiations had made it clear Republicans would not address healthcare as part of the shutdown talks, “and that waiting longer will only prolong the pain Americans are feeling”.

The procedural vote that garnered enough support on Sunday night will still need to lead to a substantive vote in the Senate, probably on Monday, Washington time, and then in the House of Representatives, likely to be this week. The House has been in recess since September but can be recalled within about 48 hours.

The breakthrough came as the shutdown entered its 40th day, eclipsing the 35-day record set in the first Trump administration over the winter of 2018-19. The reopening bill would fund the government only until the end of January.

As part of the deal, Republicans agreed to put a Democrat-drafted bill on healthcare and the tax credits on the Senate floor by the second week of December. Shaheen said the Democrats were ready to negotiate, and voters would remember at next year’s midterm elections if Republicans blocked those efforts.

But there is no guarantee that such a bill will succeed – in fact, it is extremely unlikely, given the Republicans control Congress and the White House.

US President Donald Trump has said Obamacare was “terrible”, but had indicated a willingness to discuss healthcare with Democrats if the shutdown ended. However, in recent days he shifted to demanding Republicans change Senate rules to abolish the filibuster, allowing them to reopen the government without needing Democrats to meet the 60-vote threshold.

Publicly, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, and in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, opposed the compromise plan.

“For months and months, Democrats have been fighting to get the Senate to address the healthcare crisis; this bill does nothing to ensure that that crisis is addressed,” Schumer said in a video message. “I am voting ‘no’ and I will keep fighting.”

Schumer, who was criticised by progressives earlier this year for failing to sufficiently stand up to Trump, faces a likely challenge for his New York seat from younger firebrand congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Other Democrats were highly critical of the compromise. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut called it a “major mistake”, saying that last week’s election wins vindicated the Democratic strategy of holding firm against Trump and refusing to support a Republican bill that ignored healthcare.

“Bullies gain power when their misconduct succeeds in causing righteous people to yield in the face of wrongdoing,“ Murphy said on X. “Standing up to a tyrant who is willing to impose pain to compel loyalty or capitulation is hard. Especially for people of good heart who never want to see people suffer.

“But there is no path to saving our democracy that doesn’t involve hard choices – some that involve enduring pain in the service of proving the demagogue’s bullying tactics do not work.”

California’s Democratic Governor, Gavin Newsom, who has led the rhetorical charge against Trump, called the backdown “pathetic” and said: “America deserves better.”

Trump, returning to the White House from Florida and a brief appearance at a football match near Washington, told reporters: “It looks like we’re getting very close to the shutdown ending.”

Federal government shutdowns are relatively common in the United States when Congress cannot agree on budget bills. During a shutdown, non-essential employees are furloughed, while those deemed essential, such as air traffic controllers, must work without pay (though some inevitably call in sick).

Polls have shown that more Americans blame Trump and the Republicans for the shutdown, despite Republicans arguing they had voted to reopen the government 14 times while the Democrats voted “no”. Trump accused Democrats of trying to extort him into extending Obamacare subsidies.

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