WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) — The U.S. Senate on Monday approved a bipartisan compromise to end the longest government shutdown in American history, breaking a weeks-long stalemate that had disrupted food assistance for millions, left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay, and snarled air traffic nationwide.
The measure passed 60–40, with nearly all Republicans and eight Democrats voting in favor. Democrats had unsuccessfully sought to link government funding to the continuation of health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. The agreement schedules a separate vote on those subsidies in December, but it does not guarantee their extension.
Under the deal, funding will be restored for federal agencies whose budgets lapsed on October 1. The measure also halts President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce, preventing any layoffs until at least January 30.
The bill now heads to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson has said he hopes to pass it as early as Wednesday and send it to President Trump for his signature. Trump has called the agreement to reopen the government “very good.”
The legislation extends federal funding through January 30, keeping the government operating while it continues to add roughly $1.8 trillion annually to the $38 trillion national debt.
The deal follows a series of Democratic victories in last week’s elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City, where voters elected a democratic socialist as mayor. Some Democrats criticized the compromise, noting that it includes no firm commitment to preserving the health insurance subsidies that currently benefit about 24 million Americans.
“We wish we could do more,” said Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat. “The government shutting down seemed to be an opportunity to lead us to better policy. It didn’t work.”
A late-October Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 50% of Americans blamed Republicans for the shutdown, while 43% blamed Democrats.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday, lifted by news of progress toward ending the shutdown.
President Trump has previously canceled billions in federal spending and reduced government payrolls by hundreds of thousands of positions, moves that critics say infringe on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse. Some Democrats have questioned why they should support further funding measures under those conditions.
