Government shutdown end in sight as Senate approves funding package, sending it to House

The House could start voting on the Senate-passed bill to end the government shutdown as early as 4 p.m. on Wednesday, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told lawmakers.

Multiple votes are expected. If it passes, it will go to President Trump's desk.

The House has been out of session since before the shutdown began.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters "there are already some discussions" with Democrats on "what might be a path forward" for a slate of enhanced health insurance tax credits that are set to expire this year.

Thune, a South Dakota Republican, promised to hold a vote by next month on extending the subsidies as part of a deal to reopen the government. It's far from clear, however, whether any extension would pass.

"We'll see where it lands. I don't know the answer," he said. "I just know both sides believe that we've got to do something about the affordability of health care in this country, and the fact that Obamacare since its inception has consistently seen premiums go up for the people in the individual marketplace by amounts that are just … not sustainable."

He also thanked the eight members of the Democratic caucus who took the deal, voting with Republicans on Monday to end the shutdown. The bill still needs to pass the House.

"I've been in that position before, and sometimes you just have to do the right thing, which I think they did," he said.

Hours after voting to advance a deal to reopen the government, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman told CBS News the "mass chaos" wrought by the longest government shutdown in modern U.S. history pushed more Senate Democrats to the table. 

The Pennsylvania senator was one of eight members of the Democratic caucus to back a bill that would fund the government until at least late January. In exchange, Senate GOP leadership promised to hold a vote by next month on extending a slate of health insurance tax credits that are set to expire, among other concessions. 

"We need to find a way forward because I strongly, strongly support those tax credits to make health care more affordable," Fetterman said in an interview with "CBS Mornings" that's set to air Wednesday. "But I just refuse to shut our government down and hold our government hostage."

Fetterman spoke to CBS News before the bill reached final passage.

Read more here.

Sen. Bernie Sanders said earlier Monday he's "very disappointed" that eight members of the Democratic caucus backed a bill to reopen the government, arguing that Democrats got little in exchange aside from a "meaningless" vote on health insurance subsidies.

Asked by CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns whether he viewed Sunday's vote to advance the deal as a "capitulation," Sanders responded: "›I'll try to think of a word, but that's not a bad one."

The interview took place before the Senate passed the bill.

Read more here.

The Senate approved the funding package in a 60-to-40 vote, with eight members of the Democratic caucus joining all but one Republican in favor of the bill that would end the government shutdown. 

The vote came on Day 41 of the impasse, after a deal was reached a day earlier and eight Democrats broke with their party to advance the measure through a key procedural hurdle.

The bill now goes to the House for approval. The lower chamber, which hasn't voted since Sept. 19, is expected to reconvene as soon as Wednesday.

In the final procedural vote on the funding package, 60 senators supported it while 40 opposed. 

Next up: final passage.  

The Senate adopted the amendment that includes the bipartisan deal to reopen the government, moving one step closer to final passage. The adoption of the amendment replaces the text of the House-passed legislation with the Senate's version. 

Sixty senators voted in favor and 40 voted against its adoption. 

Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jackie Rosen and Jeanne Shaheen again voted in favor. As did Sen. Angus King, an independent who votes with Democrats. 

Republican Sen. Rand Paul again voted against it. 

The Senate advanced an amendment to keep the government funded through January and reverse the Trump administration's mass layoffs enacted during the shutdown, while also temporarily preventing further layoffs. Three full-year appropriations bills are also part of the package. 

The three bills include funding for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Department of Agriculture and FDA; and operations for the legislative branch.

The vote ended with 60 voting in favor and 40 voting in opposition. 

Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jackie Rosen, and Jeanne Shaheen voted in favor. Sen. Angus King, an independent who votes with Democrats, also voted in favor. 

Republican Sen. Rand Paul voted against it. 

The Senate rejected an amendment from Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who sought to strip a provision from the funding package that he said "will shut down the hemp industry across the United States." 

"The bill, as it now stands, overrides the regulatory frameworks of several states, cancels the collective decisions of hemp consumers and destroys the livelihoods of hemp farmers, and it couldn't come at a worse time for America's farmers," Paul said on the Senate floor. 

The Senate voted to table Paul's amendment in a 76 to 24 vote. 

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky offered the motion to table the amendment, saying the language in the package closes a loophole in the 2018 farm bill that he said allows companies to take legal amounts of THC from hemp and turn it into "intoxicating substances" and market it to children. 

The Senate also blocked an effort from Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon to force a vote on an amendment that he said would "defend our constitutional power of the purse" in response to the Trump administration's cancellations of funds that were previously appropriated by Congress. 

"None of us are well served by a situation where the president decides to cancel programs based on the president's preferences," Merkley said on the Senate floor. "That's not a democracy." 

The motion failed in a 47-to-53 vote along party lines.

The Senate voted down a motion from Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin designed to force a vote on her amendment to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits for one year. 

Baldwin's motion would have tabled an amendment from the majority leader to block further amendments from being offered on the bill to reopen the government.

The motion failed in a 47-to-53 vote along party lines. 

The tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year and are expected to send insurance premiums for Americans who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces soaring. 

The first procedural vote to begin debate on the House-passed bill to end the government shutdown succeeded in a 60 to 40 vote.

A majority was needed to advance the bill. 

Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Angus King (an independent who caucuses with Democrats), Jackie Rosen and Jeanne Shaheen voted with Republicans to advance it. 

The Senate will now proceed to a series of votes leading up to final passage. Those include amendments to the House's bill to reflect a deal reached by most Senate Republicans and eight Democrats.

Thune set up a series of eight votes on the Senate floor, locking in an agreement aimed at finishing up work on the shutdown measure by the end of the night. The measure would still have to go back to the House.

The votes include a mix of procedural votes to advance the bill, along with a vote to amend the legislation to include a trio of full-year appropriations bills and an extension of the stopgap funding measure's end date. Thune also set up a vote on an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, which would strike language from the agriculture funding bill related to hemp regulation. 

Thune also set aside time for speeches from Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Susan Collins of Maine, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

Baldwin's office said she would force a vote on extending the ACA tax credits for one year to force Republicans to go on the record with their opposition.

The Senate is expected to begin a series of votes on the deal to end the government shutdown around 5 p.m., according to a GOP aide. 

An amendment offered by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky to address provisions on hemp use in the agriculture spending bill will receive a vote, the aide said. 

Senators need to clear several other procedural hurdles to incorporate the various aspects of the agreement into a single final bill. Democrats have agreed to compress the timeframe between each vote but will insist on taking the votes themselves, the GOP aide said. 

Republicans are hoping for a vote on final passage tonight. You can watch the proceedings in the Senate in the video player at the top of this page.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California put the blame on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after several Senate Democrats cut a deal with Republicans aimed at ending the government shutdown and called for Schumer to step aside from his leadership post. 

"He's the leader of the Senate. This deal would never have happened if he had not blessed it. Don't take my word for it. Take the word of other senators who are saying that they kept Sen. Schumer in the loop the whole time," Khanna said in an interview with CBS News' "The Takeout," airing on CBS News 24/7 at 5 p.m. on Monday. 

He continued: "Look, I've worked with Sen. Schumer. He did an incredible job on the CHIPS Act, on the [Inflation Reduction Act], on infrastructure. But it's time for him to be replaced. He is not meeting the moment. He's out of touch with where the party's base is." 

Read more here.

Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, told CBS News that things are heading in the right direction toward an agreement to speed through a number of procedural hurdles to get the funding plan to final passage in the upper chamber. 

 "We've got a few things to get cleared up," Rounds said. "It's very close."

Republicans are looking to get unanimous consent from senators to move forward on the bill. Rounds said senators are hoping to leave town for Veterans Day, with a number of events expected in their states on Tuesday. 

"But more importantly, folks have suffered long enough without a paycheck, and now it's just a matter of locking it in and getting a time agreement completed," Rounds told reporters after the Senate Republicans gathered for a conference meeting. 

GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said Republicans are considering whether to put amendments up, warning that if they do, the process could drag out through the end of the week. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the sole Republican to vote against the House-passed funding bill, is seeking a vote on an amendment that would strip the larger funding package of language restricting the use of hemp products, which would have an impact on Kentucky farmers. Mullin said he opposes giving Paul a vote on the amendment. 

"I don't see the point in it. If Rand wants to plant his flag and hold the government shut down over hemp in Kentucky, take that fight on," Mullin said. "I think he'll lose that one pretty hard."

The Oklahoma Republican said there's also a member pay issue, with the idea being floated to force lawmakers' pay to go into escrow during a future shutdown. 

"I think the two issues we can work out," Mullin said. "I don't think there's going to be an issue working those out at all on our side."

Senate Democrats could still delay final passage if they decline to relinquish their time on the floor. Mullin said Democrats have been "radio silent" on Monday.

GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told reporters after Senate Republicans' lunch meeting that language in the new continuing resolution that reverses the Trump administration's layoffs during the shutdown and prevents cuts through January came from the White House.

"They're the ones that offered the RIF language," Mullin said, referring to reductions in force. "That wasn't us. That didn't come from us."

Mullin said the White House told Republicans they could work with reverting the layoffs if it could help win Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine over. Kaine had previously called the issue his principal concern in the funding fight. 

"It was the right provision which brought him over, which brought a couple other people over, too," Mullin said. "That's what got it over the finish line."

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told reporters he spoke with Thune during the vote last night, when he crossed the aisle with seven of his colleagues to allow the funding measure to advance. 

"I went to him yesterday and said, 'Eight of us are sticking our necks out that you're going to keep your word. I hope you will,'" Dubin said. 

Durbin was referring to the agreement to hold a vote on health insurance tax credits next month as part of the deal to reopen the government. He said Thune assured him he would hold the vote.

The Illinois Democrat also responded to criticism from many of his colleagues for allowing the measure to move forward. He said he understands "this is a very serious debate, the most serious topic, and emotions run high."

"I didn't expect that my vote would be popular, but I think it was the right vote," he added.

The decision by eight Democratic senators to embrace a deal to end the government shutdown has infuriated many members of the party, with critics saying the lawmakers abandoned the 40-day fight without serious concessions on the health care tax credits that were central to Democrats' demands.

"Pathetic," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said. "There's no way to defend this," Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut argued. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said "it would be a policy and political disaster for the Democrats to cave."

The reaction is a reflection of the frustration among many Democrats, particularly progressives, who had urged their party to keep fighting after the strong Democratic performance in last week's elections. But the shutdown's ongoing toll was ultimately too steep for some of the party's more moderate members to stomach.

The resulting deal has exposed fault lines within the party that could reverberate over the months ahead and frame the party's internal debate heading into the primaries for next year's midterm elections. And it has led some congressional Democrats and progressive groups to call for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down, despite his personal opposition to the agreement.

Read more here.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said most Senate Democrats put up a "valiant fight" over the course of the shutdown, and declined to criticize the eight senators who crossed the aisle.

"I don't have much to say about those individuals, and they're going to have to explain themselves to their constituents and to the American people," Jeffries said at a press conference at the Capitol. "I certainly believe that Senate Democrats, the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, have waged a valiant fight over the last seven weeks, defeating the partisan Republican spending bill 14 of 15 different times, week after week, and continue to oppose this effort of passing legislation that does not address the Republican health care crisis."

The New York Democrat said the fight over health care "is getting ready to shift back to the House, where we're going to work hard [to] hold the Republicans accountable," Jeffries said, saying GOP members "can no longer hide," referring to the extended absence of the lower chamber, which last voted on Sept. 19.

At a press conference at the Capitol, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked about calls from some Democrats for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down from leadership.

"Some Democrats in your own caucus are suggesting Schumer is ineffective as Senate Democratic leader and should be replaced. You, of course, are critical of this deal. Do you view him as effective, and should he keep the job?" a reporter asked.

"Yes and yes," Jeffries replied.

The majority leader said he expects the president to sign the funding package if it clears the Senate and the House.

"Will President Trump sign this deal?" a reporter asked.

"I would expect he would, yeah," Thune said, noting that he hadn't spoken to him since Sunday night's vote.

"Does he support the RIF language in the bill?" another reporter asked, referring to provisions that reverse reductions in force the administration tried to implement during the shutdown and prohibit further layoffs through January.

"I think the White House was involved in all the discussions around that subject," Thune said.

Leaving the Senate floor, Thune told reporters that he sees a "path forward" on negotiating a solution for high health care costs once the shutdown is over. 

"Obviously it can't be without reforms. But my expectation is at some point, the president is going to be very inclined to want to do something to make health care more affordable in this country," Thune said. "Obviously, what we have today isn't working, so if there is a willingness on the part of Democrats to work with Republicans to deal with the unaffordability of Obamacare in its current form, then there might be an opportunity to do something bipartisan."

Thune said he hasn't spoken to Speaker Mike Johnson recently about the potential for a House vote on the health insurance tax credits: "My commitment was to have that vote here, and they'll have to figure out what to do in the House."

Republicans have long held that they are willing to negotiate on the health care issues, but not until the government is reopened. The South Dakota Republican said the "immediate objective is to get the government open and enable those conversations to commence." 

"There are Democrats and Republicans who are both interested in trying to do something in the health care space," he added. "And clearly, there is a need. There is an affordability issue on health care that has to be addressed, and the current trajectory we're on isn't a sustainable path."

Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor that he is asking senators to help speed up the process of final passage on the legislation that would end the shutdown.

"I'm glad to be able to say that eight Democrats joined Republicans last night to take the first step to reopen the government. In the very near future, we will be voting on a final package — a clean continuing resolution until Jan. 30 and three bipartisan, full-year appropriations bills," he said.

He added that he hopes "the very near future" means "hours, and not days."

"I ask all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, of both parties, to make it possible for us to quickly pass this bill," Thune said.

The deal still needs to clear several procedural hurdles to incorporate all elements of the agreement, namely the substitution of the current text with the new continuing resolution and the three year-long funding bills. That process could take days if a single senator chooses to slow-walk final passage, but the chamber could act quickly if there is consensus on moving forward.

The Senate convened at 11 a.m. to consider the motion to proceed to the House-passed continuing resolution. 

No votes are currently scheduled, but Majority Whip John Barrasso's office said "roll call votes are expected during Monday's session of the Senate."

Writing on Truth Social, President Trump said air traffic controllers must return to work and that those who have continued to report for duty could receive a bonus.

"All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn't will be substantially 'docked,'" he wrote. "For those Air Traffic Controllers who were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn't take ANY TIME OFF for the 'Democrat Shutdown Hoax,' I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country. For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU."

Flight disruptions have continued, largely due to staffing shortages, despite the Senate deal. As of early Monday, more than 1,500 flight cancellations were reported and over 1,400 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware.

Mr. Trump wrote that controllers who stopped showing up for work during the shutdown "will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record."

"If you want to leave service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, with NO payment or severance of any kind!" he said.

Johnson noted that air travel remains snarled due to flight reductions over staffing levels, and urged his colleagues in the House to begin returning to Washington in anticipation of a vote this week on a final deal.

"I'm stating the obvious to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House: You need to begin right now returning to the Hill. We need to do this as quickly as possible," the speaker said. 

"We look forward to the government reopening this week, so Congress can get back to our regular legislative session. We have a lot of business to do, as you all know, and we will be working in earnest," he added. "There will be long days and long nights here in the foreseeable future to make up for all this lost time that was imposed upon us."

The speaker ended his remarks without taking questions.

At his daily shutdown press conference at the Capitol, Johnson welcomed the Senate's action, and said the end of the funding lapse is in sight. 

"It's after 40 days of wandering in the wilderness and making the American people suffer needlessly, some Senate Democrats finally have stepped forward to end the pain. It appears to us this morning that our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we're grateful for that," Johnson said. 

He added: "At least some Democrats now finally appear ready to do what Republicans and President Trump and millions of hardworking American people have been asking them to do for weeks. As we said from the beginning, the people's government cannot be held hostage to further anyone's political agenda."

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, one of the Democrats who voted to advance the measure on Sunday night, told "CBS Mornings" that "keeping the government shut down for another week or another month doesn't indicate that there would be any change in the outcome." Shaheen was one of the main Democratic negotiators in the talks that produced the deal.

"We stood up to President Trump for 40 days, and let's remember why we're in this position: It's because President Trump and Republicans in the Senate and House refused to fund health care to keep costs affordable," Shaheen said.

Shaheen cited the federal employees who have been going without paychecks, as well as SNAP recipients whose benefits had been in question, as reasons for her support of the proposal.

While the eight Democrats who voted for the deal have been criticized by others in their party — as has Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for allowing it happen — Shaheen insisted that those critical should instead be focused on Mr. Trump and Republicans.

"The fact is, what this agreement is going to do is it's going to force Speaker Johnson to bring the House back in. He's been out since the beginning of September," Shaheen said. 

The final vote on advancing the House-passed continuing resolution was 60 to 40. 

Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican to move forward on the bill:

• Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada
• Dick Durbin of Illinois
• John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
• Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire
• Tim Kaine of Virginia
• Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats
• Jacky Rosen of Nevada
• Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire

GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to vote against advancing the measure.

House members were notified late Sunday that votes related to government funding are expected in the lower chamber this week, pending final passage of the funding measure in the Senate. 

The whip notice said members will be given 36 hours' notice of a vote. 

The House last voted on Sept. 19.

The Senate voted to advance a House-passed measure to fund the government late Sunday evening, marking a key breakthrough in the stalemate and paving the way to reopen the government later this week.

In a 60 to 40 vote, eight Democrats joined Republicans to advance the House-passed measure, which had fallen short on 14 previous votes. 

Senate GOP leaders are expected to move to amend the legislation to attach a package of full-year appropriations bills as part of a deal to end the shutdown, along with an extension of the temporary funding measure to keep the government funded through January. 

The vote marks the start of what could be a lengthy series of procedural votes in the Senate, since any one senator can slow the process down. Once through the Senate, the House would also have to approve the legislation before it could receive the president's signature.