Handful of Dems Join With GOP To Pass Measure Reopening Govt.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday evening approved a spending package to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, despite opposition from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and most House Democrats.
Lawmakers voted 222 to 209 to reopen the government, with six Democrats breaking ranks to support the measure. The White House said President Donald Trump will promptly sign the bill into law.
The Democrats who voted in favor were Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Adam Gray of California, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Don Davis of North Carolina, and Tom Suozzi of New York, the Daily Caller reported.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a fiscal conservative, voted against the government funding package. He was joined by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), who opposed the bill due to a provision allowing senators to sue the federal government if their phone records are seized without prior notice.
“I’m not gonna send [Republican South Carolina Sen.] Lindsey Graham half a million dollars,” Steube told reporters before he voted.
The 43-day government shutdown left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay while still requiring them to cover their bills, disrupted access to federal food assistance for low-income Americans, and caused widespread travel delays across the country.
The Senate passed the spending package Monday night, ending weeks of gridlock after Democrats delayed action on funding the government for nearly seven weeks.
The funding agreement notably excludes Democrats’ top demand — a guaranteed extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits — which Republicans had rejected as a nonstarter.
Both Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer opposed the measure, which ultimately passed both chambers after several Democrats broke ranks to support it.
While Jeffries has largely avoided criticism over the party’s handling of the shutdown, Schumer has faced sharp backlash from progressives for failing to maintain unity within his caucus and for allowing the government to reopen without securing key Democratic priorities.
The deal will keep the government funded through the end of January and includes tens of millions of dollars in new security assistance for all three branches of government. It also requires the Trump administration to rehire roughly 4,000 federal employees laid off during the shutdown and prohibits additional reductions-in-force (RIFs) until Jan. 30, the outlet reported.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended that aspect of the deal when she was asked about it on Wednesday.
“If you look at that [the recent layoffs] in comparison to the reduction in the federal workforce that this administration has done since January … to reduce the size of our federal bureaucracy, we’ve done a lot of great work on that front. And we will continue to,” she told the Daily Caller.
“The president’s main priority was to reopen the federal government and get people back to work,” Leavitt added.
Jeffries and nearly all members of his caucus voted against a stopgap spending bill on Sept. 19 that would have averted the government shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson kept the chamber in recess throughout the funding lapse until the Senate approved a similar measure Monday night.
“The long national nightmare is almost coming to an end now,” Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday. “The irony is it really was a shutdown about nothing…what we’re voting on is effectively exactly what we offered them several weeks back.”
“I don’t think Chuck Schumer got anything out of this other than a political show,” Johnson continued. “And sadly, I think that’s what he was after the whole time.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Tuesdaythat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) “never” spoke with him about the ongoing government shutdown, adding that “no one really knows” who is leading Democrats in Congress.
