Senate reaches deal to extend government funding in major sign shutdown is poised to end
By Manu Raju, Ted Barrett, Alison Main, Sarah Ferris
(CNN) — A critical group of at least eight Senate Democratic centrists has reached a deal with Senate GOP leaders and the White House to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care subsidies, according to two people familiar with the discussions — even as the rest of their party has openly pilloried the deal.
The deal — which would finally end the longest shutdown in US history — would include a new stopgap measure to extend government funding until January and be tied to a larger package to fully fund several key agencies.
It includes no guarantee from Republicans to extend the health care subsidies that have been at the heart of the funding fight, but Democrats involved in the talks believe that House and Senate GOP leaders will negotiate on a compromise in the coming weeks. It is unclear whether that bill would pass the Senate, let alone make it to the House floor.
The Senate is expected to vote on the deal beginning between 8:30 and 9 p.m. ET Sunday, according to a GOP aide.
At least eight Senate Democrats have agreed to vote for the deal, which was brokered Sunday night between three former governors — Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Angus King of Maine and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire — along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House.
One of those Democrats is Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who represents thousands of federal workers in the state and who said he supports the GOP’s promise for a future vote on the subsidies.
“Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will,” Kaine said of GOP senators who choose not to support extending the subsidies.
And importantly for Kaine, Democrats also secured an agreement from the White House to reverse its mass firings of federal workers during the shutdown, as well as protections against them happening the rest of this fiscal year. It also guarantees all federal workers will be paid for time during shutdown.
Senate Democratic leaders have not yet said whether they support the deal, with the caucus engaged in a closed-door meeting for several hours on Sunday night.
But some liberal senators have fiercely opposed the plan, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
“For me, it’s no deal without health care,” Blumenthal said, voicing a widespread sentiment in the Democratic caucus. “So far as I’m concerned, health care isn’t included, and so I’ll be a no.”
Even some centrist-leaning Democrats, like Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, were voicing concerns with the idea on Sunday night.
“I was involved for many weeks, and then over the last couple of weeks, it changed — last week it changed,” Slotkin said, noting that she was no longer involved in talks in recent days. “But I always said, like, it’s got to do something concrete on health care, and it’s hard to see how that happened.”
Across the Capitol, House Democratic leaders sharply condemned the deal. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his caucus “will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” adding: “We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives.”
House Democrats plan to have their own caucus huddle on Monday, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The broader legislation would include three full-year appropriations bills that deal with military construction and veterans affairs, the legislative branch and the Department of Agriculture. That includes $203.5 million in new funding to enhance security measures and protection for members of Congress in addition to $852 million for US Capitol Police, per a summary of the bill to fund the legislative branch provided by top Democratic appropriator Sen. Patty Murray.
The Senate would first vote to take up the House-passed stopgap measure, which means eight Democrats would need to support it for it to advance. Then, the Senate would amend that bill with the larger funding package negotiated between the two parties.
If the bill passes the Senate, it will have to go back to the House for final passage to send it to President Donald Trump’s desk in order to reopen the government. The process could take several more days.
And it’s not clear whether the Senate’s plan can survive the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has extremely narrow margins and Democrats — led by Jeffries — have already vowed to oppose it.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who has voted on the GOP funding plan throughout the shutdown and criticized his own party’s stance, said Sunday that it is time to ”take the win.”
Vote yes, he said, “and then we can find a way to lower our costs about health care.”
The-CNN-Wire
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