Senate Advances Plan to End Historic Shutdown in Bipartisan Breakthrough

The framework lawmakers agreed to Sunday night would not guarantee an extension of the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) walks to a Senate Democratic Caucus luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on July 22, 2025. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

By Jordain Carney

11/09/2025 06:59 PM EST

11/09/2025 11:15 PM EST

The Senate voted to break the shutdown stalemate Sunday, paving the way for the government to reopen as soon as later this week.

The 60-40 vote to take the first step toward ending the shutdown came hours after enough Democrats agreed to support a package that would fund multiple agencies and programs for the full fiscal year, and all others until Jan. 30, 2026.

In exchange, Democrats have a commitment from the Trump administration to rehire government workers fired at the start of the funding lapse, and the promise of a Senate floor vote in December on legislation to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits.

In the end, eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus voted Sunday night, to advance the House-passed stopgap, which is being used as a vehicle for the larger funding deal.

The vote will pave the way for consideration later this week of a legislative package that would fund the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress for all of current fiscal year — the product of months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations between top appropriators.

All other agencies would be funded through Jan. 30, according to the text of a continuing resolution released Sunday. The agreement still needs to pass the House before the government can be reopened.

“After 40 long days, I’m hopeful we can bring this shutdown to an end,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said shortly before the vote.

The framework to end the shutdown was painstakingly negotiated by Thune and members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, including Sens. Angus King, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan. Rank-and-file Republicans were also at the negotiating table, alongside members of the Senate Appropriations Committee including Chair Susan Collins.

The breakthrough came 40 days into the shutdown and as the consequences were quickly becoming more dire — from legal confusion over the disbursement of SNAP food assistance to the decision to cancel thousands of flights out of major airports to relieve overworked and unpaid air traffic controllers.

As part of the deal, Democratic negotiators agreed to ensure at least eight members from their caucus would approve procedural motions to advance the government funding package. There are still additional steps before the Senate can pass the funding deal, but Sunday’s vote sent a strong signal that Senate GOP leaders now have the necessary support in their chamber to pass legislation to end the longest shutdown in history.

Progressives, however, are privately warning they will not yield back all the time required before a final passage vote, an act of resistance that could delay the shutdown several more days. Leaders are also watching Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has threatened to hold up passage due to a policy dispute. The Senate, however, is expected to leave for a previously scheduled weeklong recess as soon as it can clear the funding package for the House, which could incentivize lawmakers not to hold up the process.

The breakthrough follows weeks of closed-door negotiations not only among a bipartisan group of rank-and-file senators but also Thune and, according to one of the people granted anonymity to share private conversations, President Donald Trump.

As part of Democrats’ agreement to end the shutdown, Thune is promising Senate Democrats a vote in mid-December to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year without congressional action. Democrats will also get to determine what bill providing that extension receives a vote.

The shutdown-ending agreement guarantees that federal employees laid off during the shutdown are rehired and gives federal employees back pay. It also would require agencies to give written notice to Congress about the withdrawal of the layoff notices issued during the funding lapse, plus details on the amount of back pay owed.

It would, as well, prevent some future firings with a blanket prohibition on reductions in force in any department or agency at least until the Jan. 30 end date of the continuing resolution.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who represents about 150,000 federal workers and was involved in negotiations over the RIF language, said shortly after the deal was announced that he would support it.

“I have long said that to earn my vote, we need to be on a path toward fixing Republicans’ health care mess and to protect the federal workforce,” Kaine said in a statement.

Kaine and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) had been in talks all day Sunday on that one final provision Kaine was pushing, with the White House finally signing off on some of the language by Sunday evening, according to two people granted anonymity to share details of the closed-door negotiations.

Right after breaking with much of his caucus to advance the deal on the floor late Sunday evening, Kaine was seen shaking Britt’s hand.

But many progressives in the Senate — along with a large number of House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — think any deal that doesn’t enact an extension of the ACA tax credits is insufficient. And the agreement got quick pushback within corners of the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses, with members questioning why their party would fold days after winning key off-year elections and without an agreement yet on their key demand.

“I think it’s a terrible mistake,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told reporters Sunday evening, signaling she’d vote no. “The American people want us to stand and fight for health care, and that’s what I believe we should do.”

Jeffries added in a statement that “we will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives, where [Speaker] Mike Johnson will be compelled to end the seven week Republican taxpayer-funded vacation.”

House Democratic leadership has insisted the health subsidies be addressed in legislation rather than a handshake compromise, especially as Johnson has refused to offer Democrats the same promise of a vote on an extension in his chamber.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who took heat from the progressive base for leading his party in shoring up the votes to prevent a government shutdown back in March, made clear Sunday night he was also holding back his support over the future of the credits.

“We asked President Trump to step in and meet with us to deliver lower health care for Americans, and, instead, Donald Trump has taken the American people hostage. …I must vote no,” Schumer said from the Senate floor shortly before the vote.

Lawmakers who were negotiating on behalf of the Senate Democratic Caucus defended the deal in a news conference Sunday night, saying the promise of a vote should be counted as a major victory.

“We have a guaranteed vote by a guaranteed date on a bill that we will write,” said Shaheen of Democrats, though she added it was important to engage with Republicans on a bipartisan product that could get signed into law.

King said there was “no guarantee” the extension would be enacted by Dec. 31, but it was clear this was the best deal on the subsidies Democrats were going to get, since Republicans weren’t backing down from their position they would not negotiate on health care while the government remained shuttered.

“There was zero chance of dealing with the ACA issue as long as the shutdown continued. Now, I don’t know, 50-50? But there’s a lot better chance now than there was this morning because,” said King. “There was no evidence another week, or another two weeks, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, was suddenly, Republicans would come to us and say, ‘oh, we now want to talk about the ACA.’ If they weren’t going to do it by now, what was going to change in the next two weeks?”

House GOP leaders are now watching to see how long it will take the Senate to approve the agreement, especially if angry progressives across the Capitol refuse to fast-track the process, according to three people granted anonymity to share their direct knowledge of the matter.

The House could return by the end of this week to approve the deal, if the Senate clears it in the coming days. Assuming Trump gives it the green light, it’s expected enough House Republicans will fall in line to back it.

House GOP hard-liners will likely grumble about pieces of the funding bills, but senior Senate Republicans worked through several contentious issues with House Republicans behind the scenes in recent days to stave off an 11th-hour conflict.

Johnson will update Republicans on the House plans during a call with members Monday morning, according to three Republicans granted anonymity to share private meeting details.

And despite Jeffries’ opposition, a handful of centrist House Democrats are also currently inclined to vote to reopen the government, which would make up for any vote shortfall on the GOP side of the aisle. But that’s pending final details of the Senate agreement, according to two Democrats granted anonymity to speak candidly.

While attending a Sunday night football game outside Washington, Trump appeared optimistic the end of the longest government shutdown in history might be finally within reach.

“It looks like we’re getting very close to the shutdown ending,” he told reporters.

Reporters Katherine Tully-McManus, Meredith Lee Hill, Nicholas Wu, Calen Razor and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.