WASHINGTON — A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track Monday after a handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to break the impasse in what has become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services, the longest in history.
What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal drew sharp criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation provides funding to reopen the government, including for SNAP food aid and other programs, while also ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers the Trump administration had left in doubt.
But notably lacking is any clear resolution to expiring health care subsidies that Democrats have been fighting for as millions of Americans stare down rising insurance premiums. That debate was pushed off for a vote next month, weeks before the subsidies are set to expire.
- Funding to keep much of the federal government running for the next couple of months, to Jan. 30.
- Several bills to fully fund other government operations for the full fiscal year, through September 2026.
- Guarantees that states would be reimbursed for money they spent to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and the Women, Infants and Children program, or WIC, running during the shutdown.
- No extension of the health care subsidies that defray insurance costs. Instead, a vote on the issue in December.
- A roll-back of some of the Trump administration's shutdown-related hits to the federal workforce. The stopgap measure reinstates federal workers who had received reductions in force, or layoff, notices and protects against such future actions.
- Back pay for federal workers who were furloughed or working without pay during the shutdown.
Read the rest at Spectrum News.
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