WASHINGTON — The longest federal government shutdown in history will end soon after a group of moderate Democrats caved on their party’s health care demands, voting with Republicans on Sunday to advance a funding bill in the Senate.
The Senate is expected to pass the deal as early as Monday. The GOP-controlled House will then return to D.C. and pass it later this week, reopening the government.
For weeks, Democrats have been insisting that any vote to reopen the government also be tied to a vote to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits expiring at the end of the year, something they repeatedly called a “health care crisis.” Millions of people rely on these subsidies to afford health care, and since ACA open enrollment began on Nov. 1, many have already seen how the costs of their health care will skyrocket.
The deal that moderate Democrats cut with Republicans doesn’t extend those health care subsidies, but sets up a future vote to extend them — a vote that will almost certainly fail, as Republicans have no interest in doing this.
Proponents of the deal argue it’s still a win for them, as Republicans previously weren’t willing to hold any votes on restoring ACA subsidies.
“This deal guarantees a vote to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which Republicans weren’t willing to do,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.), a liberal Democrat who supported the deal primarily because it includes protections for federal workers, many of whom live in his state. “Lawmakers know their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will.”
But Republicans did offer Democrats a vote on the ACA subsidies weeks earlier, in mid-October, and Democrats simply refused to cave to their demands.
The reality is that moderate Democrats in particular were looking for an off-ramp from the shutdown, as the expiration of federal food assistance for tens of millions of people, and the compounding travel nightmare at airports across the country increasingly weighed on them.
There was also a sense among some that Democrats couldn’t win the fight in the long term. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump was digging in more by urging Republicans to repeal the ACA subsidies entirely. He’s also pushed GOP senators to go so far as to eliminate the filibuster to get what he wants.
“The question was, as the shutdown progresses, is a solution on the ACA becoming any more likely? It appears not,” Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told HuffPost after a two-hour closed-door meeting with Democrats on Sunday.
“I think people are saying we’re not going to get what we want, although we still have a chance, because part of the deal is a vote on the ACA subsidies,” King said. “But in the meantime, a lot of people are being hurt.”
King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, led negotiations with Republicans on the deal alongside moderate Democratic senators Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.). Four other Democrats supported their agreement, in addition to Kaine: Sens. Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Dick Durbin (Ill.) and John Fetterman (Pa.).
Their agreement includes a reversal of all the firings of federal workers that have taken place since the shutdown began, as well as protections against more firings happening again — until Jan. 30, 2026. And it funds federal food assistance at a higher level than before.
But progressive lawmakers and groups are fuming about this deal, with some calling it a “betrayal” to the millions of Americans about to be priced out of their health care coverage.
“It’s a terrible mistake,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told reporters on Sunday. “People want us to stand and fight for health care, and that’s what I believe.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a potential 2028 presidential candidate, insisted he “will not turn my back on the 24 million Americans” whose health care premiums will now double, or more, as a result of the ACA tax credits expiring.
“There’s a phrase in Spanish, ‘Con salud, lo hay todo; sin salud, no hay nada.’ It means, ‘With good health you have it all; without your health, you have nothing,’” Gallego said in a statement. “It’s with that phrase in mind that I stand firm in my decision to vote no so that families across the country can get the health care they need.”
Top Democrats in the House also slammed the Senate deal, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (Texas). But there are enough House Democrats who will ultimately support it when the chamber takes it up later this week.
Some Democrats called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s ouster as the leader of his caucus, blaming the New York Democrat for failing to hold it together even though he opposed the deal in the end. His critics included Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) and Zach Wahls, a Democrat running for Senate in Iowa.
Schumer declined to answer questions about calls for his ouster on Sunday evening. Instead, he railed against the agreement in remarks on the Senate floor.
“This health care crisis is so severe, so urgent, so devastating for families back home, that I cannot in good faith support this [continuing resolution] that fails to address the health care crisis,” he said.
“But let me be clear: However this vote turns out, this fight will and must continue. Democrats must fight because millions of families will lose health care coverage,” Schumer added. “We must fight because children who are dying of cancer will not get health care coverage.”