US senate could move swiftly on deal to reopen govt: Here’s what you need to know

WASHINGTON - Republicans in the US Senate appeared close to an agreement on Nov 10 that would allow them to fast-track the deal to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, a day after a splinter group of Democrats said they would support the plan, even without the concessions their party had spent weeks demanding.

President

Donald Trump voiced his backing for the plan

during remarks in the Oval Office. “We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” he said. He added: “The deal is very good.”

Republican senator John Thune, the majority leader, urged his colleagues earlier in the day not to “pointlessly” drag out the process. “People have suffered for long enough,” he said on the Senate floor.

The package must pass the Senate and then be approved by the House before it can be signed by Mr Trump, and Speaker Mike Johnson urged House members – who have not held a vote in nearly two months because of an extended recess – to begin the process of returning to Capitol Hill “right now”.

It could take until at least the middle of the week for the government to reopen, with Mr Johnson saying he would give his members 36 hours’ notice to return to Washington once the bill cleared the Senate.

Republicans had sought to move quickly with the plan, less than 24 hours after eight senators who caucus with Democrats broke ranks to support it and exposed a rift within the party.

The plan that moved forward in the Senate in a 60-40 vote on the night of Nov 9 did not include Democrats’ central demand – the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are slated to expire at the end of the year – drawing an angry backlash from many in the party. Even so, the vote indicated there was enough support to end the gridlock that has shuttered the government for weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, millions of Americans facing air-travel disruptions and millions more at risk of losing food assistance.

The compromise measure includes a spending package that would fund the government through January, as well as three separate spending bills to cover programs related to agriculture, military construction and legislative agencies for most of 2026. The package also includes a provision that would reverse layoffs of federal workers made during the shutdown and ensure retroactive pay for those who have been furloughed.

Questioned about the provisions of the plan working its way through the Senate, Mr Trump told reporters on Nov 10 that, “I’ll abide by the deal”.

Here’s what else to know:

Democrats are bitterly divided

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, opposed the package.

Several top Democrats in the House, including Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, said they would not back the deal, although they would have no chance of defeating it if Republicans in that chamber hold together.

The senators who voted with the Republicans could afford to take a political hit: Two are retiring, and the others are not facing re-election next year.

Health insurance subsidies

Moderate and progressive Democrats alike expressed anger that their colleagues had backed down from the party’s demand for an extension of Affordable Care Act premium subsidies that are slated to expire at the end of the year.

Democrats had for weeks called on Republicans to agree to permanently extend the subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the government.

Mr Schumer scaled back that demand on Nov 7 by proposing an extension of the health tax credits for a year, but Republicans immediately rejected the idea.

Mr Thune instead promised to allow a vote in December on extending the expiring health insurance tax credits, but that measure faces long odds in the Republican-led Congress.

Travel disruptions

Airlines braced for further chaos this week, despite the progress in the Senate.

More than 1,600 flights had been cancelled as of midday on Nov 10, about 6.3 per cent of scheduled trips.

The reductions are expected to rise to 10 per cent by the end of the week.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the cuts were needed to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers, who have been working without pay for more than a month.

Phone searches

A provision of the spending package appears to allow for eight Republican senators to sue the government over their phone records being seized in the course of the investigation by Jack Smith, the former special counsel, into the riot at the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021.

The provision would make it illegal not to notify a senator if their phone records or other metadata was taken from a service provider like a phone company. NYTIMES