A small band of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Monday night to approve a funding measure to reopen the federal government — without securing their party’s demand to guarantee an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which help millions of Americans afford insurance.
The funding compromise will now go to the House, where GOP leaders are hopeful it could pass as soon as Wednesday and end the longest-ever US shutdown. The recently struck deal, which President Donald Trump is expected to sign, would restore critical services like federal food aid, as well as pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus crossed the aisle to join with Republicans in the 60 to 40 vote. One Republican voted in opposition: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
That shutdown has been politically painful on Capitol Hill. Republicans have repeatedly shouldered blame in recent polling for the funding lapse. And the deal, struck by Democratic centrists in the Senate, has ignited a fight within the party about its strategy in the already 41-day funding fight — and where they go next.
Most Democrats were eager to keep fighting even as centrists declared that with Trump dug in, there was no real chance of securing policy wins on health care. Instead, those centrists secured the promise of a future vote on a health care bill of their choosing, which Democrats are determined to win GOP support on. It is far from guaranteed, however, that the bill will survive the Senate, let alone the House.
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