House Passes Budget Bill, Ending Shutdown

Late Wednesday night, House Republicans approved a funding bill, effectively ending a lengthy government shutdown that had plagued Democrats.

The continuing resolution succeeded with a vote of 222-209. Of that, 216 Republicans supported the bill, while all 209 opposing votes came from Democrats. Interestingly, two Republican representatives, Thomas Massie from Kentucky and Greg Steube from Florida, chose to vote against it.

“Democrats gained nothing from the shutdown, but the burden fell on hardworking families,” a Republican said.

A few Democrats also crossed party lines, electing to support the government reopening. Among them were Rep. Jared Golden from Maine, who is set to retire, and other representatives like Adam Gray from California, Marie Glusenkamp Perez from Washington, Don Davis from North Carolina, Henry Cuellar from Texas, and Tom Suozzi from New York.

Now, the bill moves to President Trump, who intends to sign it into law that same night, which should officially reopen the government.

The House vote followed the decision of eight Democratic senators, who over the weekend aligned with Republicans to pass the funding bill in the Senate on Monday night. This group included Senators Dick Durbin from Illinois, Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire, Tim Kaine from Virginia, Jacky Rosen from Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire, John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, Angus King (I) from Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada.

Even with some Democrats willing to break ranks, they were unable to extract any commitment from Republicans to negotiate on healthcare matters.

“Democrats have essentially held our country hostage for over six weeks, demanding healthcare provisions for illegal immigrants to appear as though they were standing up to President Trump,” stated August Pfluger, Chairman of the Republican Research Committee. “To put it simply, Democrats achieved nothing during the shutdown, while hardworking families suffered. Now, it’s time for us to get back to the business of governing and fulfilling the responsibilities given to us by the American people last November.”

Initially, the reason behind the Democratic-led shutdown was to pressure Republicans into extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the year’s end. However, they only managed to secure a promise from Senate Minority Leader John Thune to hold a vote on extending those subsidies, which had been offered to them at the outset of the shutdown.