The Senate is moving to end the longest-running shutdown in US history, as a group of seven Democrats broke their party's blockade and voted with Republicans to advance legislation to reopen the Government.
The vote by 60 votes in favour and 40 against paved the way for the spending deal to be advanced in Congress, so that once passed, it could be approved by the House of Representatives to be signed by President Trump to end the shutdown.
Democratic senators voted to advance the measure, which will fund most federal agencies by January. But the deal drew strong reactions from other Democratic lawmakers, many of whom were outraged that their colleagues backed out of the party's central demand in the dispute over the government shutdown: an extension of health benefits that are due to expire at the end of the year, resulting in an increase in premiums for millions of Americans.
The agreement provides that Congress will approve funding for the entire fiscal year with respect to the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and Congress itself, while the rest of the federal agencies will be provisionally funded until January 30. The bill also provides for the payment of arrears of wages to civil servants placed on compulsory leave, the resumption of state payments to states and local authorities, and the return of employees temporarily laid off during the shutdown.
U.S. stock market indices moved higher during early trading in Asia, reflecting optimism about an imminent solution.
The deal, while politically "lifesaving" for both sides, falls far short of the goals of Democrats in the House and Senate, who called for not only extending Obamacare premium subsidies, but also repealing Medicaid cuts passed earlier this year by Republicans.
The Democrats, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, secured a commitment from Republicans to hold a vote by mid-December to renew the tax credits of the Affordable Care Act. However, this promise did not satisfy everyone.
"We will fight the Republican bill in the House of Representatives," House Democratic Leader Hakim Jeffries said in a statement Sunday night.
