The Senate voted to reopen the government on Monday evening after the longest government shutdown in history, even as Democrats’ hope to extend health care subsidies remains unlikely.
After 40 days, eight Democrats joined all but one Republican Senator on a continuing resolution to keep the government open until January. The vote sets up the House to vote on the resolution on Wednesday.
This comes despite the fact that many Democratic activists and almost every Democrat in the House roundly criticized the agreement.
Democrats had opposed the continuing resolution because they had hoped to include an extension of enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace that President Joe Biden put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic. Around 24 million people get their insurance on the health insurance marketplace, according to KFF.
Open enrollment on the marketplace began this month and some people have reported seeing premiums double or even triple. KFF warned that subsidized enrollees could see their premiums go up by as much as 114 percent.
The revolt caused such a schism that Democratic congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen, the daughter of New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who helped broker the agreement, criticized it.
“My daughter’s very independent,” Sen. Shaheen told The Independent. “That's why she's going to be such a great Congresswoman. And she knows a lot about the health care system, because she’s been working in it for over 20 years.”
The shutdown led to the Trump administration trying to make it as painful as possible, fighting in court to prevent the disbursement of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and leading to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cutting thousands of flights.
President Donald Trump had floated the idea of terminating the filibuster after Democrats had used the 60-vote threshold to block any vote on a continuing resolution that the House passed in September.
But while Senate Republicans guaranteed a vote on extending the subsidies, it’s not guaranteed that it could pass the Senate and House Speaker Mike Johnson did not guarantee a vote on them in the future.
Senate Democrats expressed doubt that Republicans would negotiate in good faith.
“Republican senators have never voted for the ACA,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told The Independent. “They’ve made it clear that their position, consistently over many years, has been to oppose more affordable, more accessible health care.”
Republicans have historically voted against the ACA. During Trump’s first presidency, he attempted to repeal the law signed by President Barack Obama, only to see the vote fail in dramatic fashion during a late-night downvote.
Democrats have only 47 Senate seats meaning they would need to win over 13 Republicans. Already, Republicans have started to pour cold water on extending the subsidies.
“Why would I renew something that’s badly done?” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said to The Independent. “Why would I continue to give 10s of billions of dollars to insurance companies with an inferior product? That’s insane.”
Rather, some Republicans suggested having the money go directly to voters rather than as subsidies to buy insurance.
“I think it’s gonna be important in this discussion, and I think you’re gonna see President Trump involved too,” Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) told The Independent.
But Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, told The Independent he was skeptical that Republicans really cared about taking on the insurance industry.
“I've got folks who are having 500 percent increases in premiums and focused on that, and that’s what’s going to help us change it,” Wyden said. “Because these guys come back and people say, ‘I can’t pay for groceries, I can’t pay the rent, I can’t pay for shoes for my kids.’ That’s the way we're going to get this done.”
But other Republicans signaled they might be open to doing so. Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, faces a tough re-election next year and has occasionally voted with Democrats on health care.
“I do think we need to reinstate the...income cap that was on eligibility for the tax credit used to exist prior to Covid,” she told The Independent.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is retiring at the end of next year, said he thought there could be some level of negotiations.
“I think it’s got to be it’s got to get it out of the political cycle and also recognize that some of the things that they did without a single Republican vote need to be undone,” he said.
In addition to the continuing resolution, the deal will allow for the passage of three bipartisan spending bills, pay federal workers who had not received a check during the shutdown and undo reductions in force the Trump administration put in place.
But many Democrats expressed frustration at what they considered a cave less than a week after Democrats had almost a perfect sweep in off-year elections on Tuesday.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who voted for the continuing resolution, said he believed Johnson would have no choice but to take up the subsidies if it passes in a bipartisan fashion.
“And if it comes out of here bipartisan, he cannot not take it up without having November 2026 make November 2025 look like a picnic,” he told The Independent.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told The Independent that she believed an agreement could be reached.
“There’s some common ground there,” she said. “Is it hard? We’ve demonstrated what hard is.”
