The House of Representatives voted late on Wednesday to reopen the government after the longest shutdown in American history.
All but two Republicans voted to reopen the federal government while a majority of Democrats voted against the legislation, with only six Democrats voting with Republicans.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the legislation Wednesday evening.
The government was shut down on October 1 after Democrats in the Senate voted against a stopgap spending bill continuing resolution passed by the House of Representatives in September. Democrats had hoped to include an extension of Covid-era enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces.
But Republicans in the Senate refused while House Speaker Mike Johnson kept the House of Representatives out of session. The Senate passed the legislation late Monday evening after eight Democrats joined Republicans in the upper chamber.
Health insurance companies have already sent out notices that health insurance premiums for customers could double or even triple for the 24 million Americans who purchase their insurance on the exchanges put in place in the 2010 law signed by President Barack Obama. During the Covid-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden increased the tax credits.
“I’m very concerned that even if the Senate came up with a deal that they could agree with that Speaker Johnson won’t bring it to the floor, but we have the American people behind us, and we’re going to keep staying in the fight,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts told The Independent.
That the did not mean Republicans were entirely happy with the legislation either.
Specifically, they objected to a part of the continuing resolution that would allow for Senators to sue the government if the government obtained phone records. The language states that senators who had their phone records obtained without their knowledge “may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any federal department or agency.”
Mike Johnson said the House would have separate legislation to remove the provision.
“House Republicans are introducing standalone legislation to repeal this provision that was included by the Senate in the government funding bill,” he said on X. “We are putting this legislation on the fast track suspension calendar in the House for next week.
Many Democrats in the House expressed dismay at the fact they would not be able to include provisions to extend the health care tax credits the way they hoped and felt frustrated that eight Democrats in the Senate crossed over to help Republicans.
“So for all of those that have decided that some Democrats are built for this moment and some aren’t, I understand that it is important to recognize that not every Republican is built the same and not every Democrat is built the same,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas told The Independent. “And so when you go to the polls, it’s going to be important to make sure that you have candidates that can meet this moment.”
As part of the agreement, Republicans in the Senate agreed to hold a vote on the tax credits next month, but a House vote is not guaranteed.
The shutdown came as the Federal Aviation Administration cut services for flights ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday season, the busiest travel time in the year. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that flight cuts will stay at six percent because more people were returning to work, according to the Associated Press.
In addition, the Trump administration fought legal efforts to disburse benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
The vote also came after Johnson swore in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, who won a special election for to replace her father in September, but whom Johnson had delayed swearing in.
“It’s frustrating, and it’s a battle that we still have to, we have to win for the American people, for southern Arizona,” Grijalva told The Independent.
The frustration came partially because Democrats swept nearly all races during last week’s off-year elections. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed confidence that Democrats would win despite the dejection.
“We heard all about this narrative that Democratic voters were somehow discouraged throughout the balance of this year, and we keep winning election after election after election, and Republicans were just decisively defeated last week all across America,” he told The Independent.
