The Senate voted Monday night to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history after eight Democrats broke ranks and sided with Republicans on a funding deal that excluded key Democratic demands.
The legislation passed 60-40, with every Republican except Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky voting in favor. The bill now heads to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson said a vote could come as early as Wednesday.
The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. on October 1 after competing Republican and Democratic proposals failed in the Senate. The Democrat bill included health care for illegal immigrants, while the Republicans’ clean bill would have funded the government at current levels until November 1.
For 40 days, Democrats voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demanded more spending.
“After 40 long days, I’m hopeful that we can bring the shutdown to an end,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before the vote.
The breakthrough came after Senators Angus King, Jeanne Shaheen, and Maggie Hassan negotiated a deal with Republicans. Eight members of the Democratic caucus voted in favor of the bill: Senators Tim Kaine, Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Jacky Rosen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Angus King.
The legislation includes a short-term funding extension through January 30, 2026, language to reverse some Trump administration firings during the shutdown, and ensures furloughed federal workers receive backpay. The bill also funds the SNAP program through September 2026.
The deal does not include any of the Democratic demands on health care. Instead, Republican leadership promised to allow a vote on a bill of Democrats’ choosing related to the ACA in December. There is no guarantee that measure will achieve the 60 votes necessary to pass.
All 53 Senate Republicans voted Monday against including a one-year extension of the ACA spending in the funding bill.
“This was the only deal on the table,” Shaheen admitted in defeat. “It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the ACA tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to keep costs down.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer angrily condemned the deal as a betrayal against his leadership.
“The American people have now awoken to Trump’s health care crisis,” Schumer said. “Democrats demanded that we find a way to fix this crisis and quickly, but Republicans have refused to move an inch. So, I cannot support the Republican bill that’s on the floor because it fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s health care crisis.”