The Senate voted 60-40 late Sunday to advance a spending deal that could, in the coming days, end the nation’s longest government shutdown, as Politico and others reported. After weekend negotiations, a handful of Democrats joined Republicans on the procedural vote to this week consider a spending package that would:
- Fund the VA and military construction at new levels through September 2026
- Fund the USDA, FDA and legislative branch at new levels through September 2026
- Fund DOD and the rest of the government at current levels through Jan. 30, giving appropriators more time to consider full-year appropriations bills for the fiscal year that started about four months ago.
The inclusion of defense appropriations in the stopgap package means that, after last year’s year-long continuing resolution, DOD would be operating essentially on a budget drafted by the Biden administration in 2023 and 2024. But the “compromise proposal includes language to retain more than 4,000 federal workers targeted for layoffs during the shutdown as well as language to prevent the Trump administration from firing additional federal workers through reductions in force (RIFs) for the length of the newly drafted continuing resolution — until Jan. 30,” according to The Hill.
The deal calls for a future Senate vote on extending Affordable Care Act benefits that are soon set to rise drastically for many Americans, as CNN reported, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not committed to bringing an ACA tax credit extension to the floor. Some Senate and House Democrats were disappointed their colleagues went along with a plan that did not explicitly guarantee House and Senate action to extend ACA credits.
Architect of the Capitol photo
