The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected to approve a funding bill to restart the U.S. federal government within days.
US President Donald Trump called the end of the government shutdown “a huge victory” after the Senate passed a bill funding federal agencies.
President Trump on Tuesday congratulated Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on the soon-to-be approved funding bill.
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President Trump addressed Prime Minister Johnson at a Veterans Day event, saying, “Congratulations to you and John and everyone on a very big victory.”
“We have an open country and it should never have been shut down.”
The president’s comments indicate he views the government shutdown crisis as a political victory for Republicans, who will break the budget impasse in Congress without fulfilling Democrats’ key demand for expanded health care subsidies.
The Senate passed the funding bill late Monday on a 60-40 vote, with eight members of the Democratic caucus supporting the proposal.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected to pass a budget within days to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. If the House approves the bill, it will be sent to President Trump’s desk where he is expected to sign it into law.
In the US system, Congress is tasked with funding the government.
If lawmakers fail to pass a budget, the federal government would go into shutdown mode, suspending paychecks for most employees and sending non-essential workers home.
The current closure began on October 1st.
Republicans control the House, Senate and White House, but their narrow majority in the Senate has so far been unable to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.
In the 100-member Senate, major legislation typically needs to pass with at least 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, a legislative process that allows the minority party to block opposing legislation.
The Democratic caucus holds 47 seats in the House and was able to successfully invoke the filibuster until this week’s split vote.
Until Monday, Democrats were nearly united in opposing the Republican funding bill. They previously claimed that they only do Authorizes federal funding if the bill includes provisions to extend health care benefits under the Affordable Care Act that expire at the end of the year.
Democrats argued that these subsidies help millions of Americans afford health insurance.
But Trump had threatened to increase pressure on Democrats by cutting programs tied to them.
For example, during the government shutdown, President Trump tried to withhold food benefits from low-income families, a policy that has been challenged in court.
The shutdown crisis has also caused flight delays and cancellations across the U.S. due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, who are working without pay.
Monday’s Senate vote clears the way for a resolution to the crisis. But the bill has caused infighting within the Democratic Party, with some in the party expressing disappointment in the senators who supported it.
The issue has also fueled criticism of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Mr. Schumer voted against the proposal, but failed to maintain unity among his caucus against it.
“Senator Schumer is unable to rise to the moment and lacks connection with the American people. Democrats need a leader who will fight for and serve working people,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib said in a social media post Monday.
“Mr. Schumer should resign.”
Sen. John Fetterman, one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, defended his vote Tuesday.
“When you’re facing massive, massive disruption, I don’t think we should respond with more disruption or fight with more disruption,” Fetterman said on ABC’s “The View.” “It’s like, no, we need to be the party of order and logic.”
