House returns for vote to end the government shutdown after nearly 2 months away

WASHINGTON (AP) — House lawmakers made a long-awaited return to the nation’s capital on Wednesday after nearly eight weeks away to potentially put an end to the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

The House is scheduled to take up a bill to reopen the government that the Senate passed on Monday night. President Donald Trump called the measure a “very big victory.” The prospect of travel delays due to the shutdown could complicate the vote. Still, Speaker Mike Johnson said the GOP was “very optimistic” about the outcome.

“We think this is going to happen and we’re sorry it took this long,” Johnson, R-La., told reporters.

The House has not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans did their job.

Democrats seized on the opportunity to cast Republicans as going on vacation while the federal workforce went without paychecks, travelers experienced airport delays and food assistance benefits expired. Johnson said members were doing important work in their districts helping constituents navigate the shutdown.

The vast majority of Democratic lawmakers are expected to vote against the bill because it does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of this year and make coverage more affordable. They gathered on the Capitol steps to denounce the measure.

“We cannot support the Republican effort to gut the health care of the American people,” said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

But Johnson said of the pending legislation that “our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that.”

“After 40 days of wandering in the wilderness and making the American people suffer needlessly, some Senate Democrats finally have stepped forward to end the pain,” Johnson said.

The compromise to end the shutdown

The legislation included buy-in from eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the health care tax credits. Meanwhile, the shutdown’s toll was growing by the day. Wednesday was Day 43.

The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.

“We had reached a point where I think a number of us believed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about health care,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. The promise for a future vote “gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward.”

The legislation includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.

The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.

Democrats are also seizing on language that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation. Democrats called for removal of the provision.

The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said Democrats were being hypocritical in blaming the GOP for the expiring health insurance tax credit.

“It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” he said of Democrats. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date. … By the way, they did it without any Republican votes.”

Most Democrats call the passage of the spending bill a mistake. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said the bill “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s healthcare crisis.”

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week’s elections were urging them to “hold firm.”

Health care debate ahead

It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.

“We do need to act by the end of the year, and that is exactly what the majority leader has promised,” Collins said.

House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overall for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the federal government shutdown at https://apnews.com/hub/government-shutdown.