House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered lawmakers to get back to work on Monday, demanding they immediately return to Washington after Senate Democrats caved on their shutdown and voted to reopen the government following a 43-day shutdown.
Johnson said the House will vote Wednesday to end what he called a nightmare caused by Democratic obstruction.
“It appears our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end,” Johnson said after the Senate passed funding legislation 60-40.
The speaker has kept the House out of session since mid-September, when the chamber passed a bill to continue government funding. Senate Democrats blocked that legislation 14 times, demanding more federal spending.
“You need to begin right now returning to the Hill. We need to do this as quickly as possible,” Johnson told lawmakers Monday.
Johnson issued an apology Wednesday morning to Americans dealing with flight delays, lowered food stamp payments, and missed paychecks as a result of the Democrat-led shutdown.
“I just want to say that we’re very optimistic about the vote tally tonight, and we think this is going to happen, and we’re sorry that it took this long. So Republicans are going to deliver for the people,” Johnson said.
The federal government shut down October 1 after competing Republican and Democratic proposals failed in the Senate. The Democrat bill included increased federal spending for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act while the Republicans’ clean bill would have funded the government at current levels.
Hundreds of representatives will return Wednesday to work after a nearly eight-week absence.
“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,” Johnson said.
Eight Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans to finally fund the government. Democratic Senators Tim Kaine, Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Jacky Rosen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Angus King voted for the package.
The House Rules Committee voted 8-4 early Wednesday to advance the funding legislation, sending it to the House floor for consideration. First votes are scheduled for 5:10 p.m. Wednesday, with the vote to end the shutdown expected after 7 p.m.
Democrats are again expected to largely vote against the bill. Johnson will need to muscle the legislation through with mostly GOP lawmakers in the narrowly divided chamber.
President Donald Trump has signaled support for the funding deal.
“We’re going to be opening up our country very quickly,” Trump said Monday.
Once the House passes the bill, it heads to Trump’s desk for his signature. That could happen as soon as Wednesday night.
The speaker will also swear in Democratic Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona on Wednesday. Grijalva won a special election in September but Johnson refused to swear her in during the shutdown.