Despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announcing his rejection of the Republican proposal, the Senate managed to approve the procedural vote that allows progress toward a bill to unlock funds to reopen the federal government, after a record 40-day shutdown due to lack of agreement.
Near midnight, the Senate secured the 60 votes needed to advance toward a compromise that would allow paying federal employees and agencies, after seven Democratic senators and independent Angus King decided to break with their party to extend the budget until January 30.
The Democrats who decided to vote in favor of unblocking the process on the Senate floor explained that it was clear Republicans were not going to yield and that “there was only one agreement on the table, and this was the best option to reopen the government.”
The agreement reached, which still must pass additional votes in the Senate and ultimately the House, will allow resuming payments to more than 650,000 federal employees who have gone over a month without a paycheck and provide retroactive pay, as well as fund the Departments of Agriculture (responsible for food stamps for the poorest), Veterans Affairs, and other agencies until January 30.
As part of the negotiations, Republicans assured Democrats that in December they would vote to extend the subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which expire this year and had become the major obstacle to extending the budget.
Schumer stated that while the federal government was shut down, President Donald Trump took affected Americans “hostage” by suspending the food assistance program for families, veterans, seniors, and children.
“The healthcare crisis is so serious and urgent for families that I cannot support this continuing resolution (for the budget),” Schumer said, whose opposition was also joined by progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren, who asserted that the agreement was a “big mistake.”
“I understand that some of my Democratic colleagues are not happy with this agreement, but waiting a week or a month longer was not going to mean a better outcome,” said New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who led negotiations with the Republican caucus to overcome the deadlock they were facing.
The Democratic senators who voted to surpass the 60-vote threshold out of 100 stated that one of their main goals is to ensure that Obamacare coverage subsidies remain available for millions of Americans who depend on them.
The agreement must still receive approval from the House of Representatives, where there is division within both parties. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he will vote no, while Pete Aguilar, chair of the Democratic Caucus, joined the opposition to the bill because “it does not fix the healthcare crisis or make life more affordable for Americans.”
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