House passes funding bill to end longest-ever government shutdown
The House on Wednesday passed a Republican-backed bill that will fund the government through Jan. 30 and end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history on its 43rd day.
The bill passed by a 222-209 margin with two Republicans voting against it and six Democrats voting for it.
President Donald Trump signed the bill later Wednesday night, continuing to blame Democrats for the shutdown and pushing again for Republicans who control the Senate to abolish to filibuster to prevent another shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Democrats' holding out on the bill to try to force the Republican-controlled Senate and House to include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, which run out at the end of the year, was "utterly pointless and foolish."
"This outcome was totally foreseeable. I said this would be the outcome when all this began back in mid-September. They did it anyway," Johnson said.
House Democrat leadership said they weren't giving up on the tax credits extension.
"House Democrats will continue our fight to lower the high cost of living, decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits," Monority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement.
The leaders called for Republicans to work with Democrats on addressing health care policies. Jeffries said he would push a discharge petition in the House, which would need 218 votes to pass, to continue the subsidies.
"Over the past several weeks, a handful of Republicans claimed to be interested in addressing the healthcare crisis that they have created in America ... Now is the time for so-called traditional Republicans to join with House Democrats, sign the discharge petition and force a vote on our bill to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years," the Democratic leaders added.
But Johnson would not commit to a vote on extending the subsidies, saying the ACA needs reforms.
"Am I going to guarantee a vote on ACA unreformed COVID-era subsidies that is just a boondoggle to insurance companies and robs the taxpayer? We got a lot of work to do on that," Johnson said. "We, the Republicans, would demand a lot of reforms before anything like that was ever possible. And we have to go through that deliberative process."
The Senate on Monday night passed the bill to fund the government and provide full-year funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and WIC, its program for women, infants and children; veterans programs and military construction. It also includes language to reverse Trump administration firings during the shutdown and to ensure furloughed workers receive back pay.
It passed in a 60-40 vote, after eight Democrats broke ranks with the party and joined Republicans to bring the weekslong impasse in the Senate to a close.
The House was in session Wednesday for the first time in 54 days. Speaker Mike Johnson sent his caucus home after passing a version of the funding bill in September. Johnson earlier this week advised members to begin making their way back to Washington as travel delays persist across the country because of shortages of air traffic controllers who have not been paid during the shutdown.
After Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn in on Wednesday, Johnson could afford to lose only two Republican votes if all members were present and voting.
Democrats are now dealing with infighting as the shutdown ends without any of the Democratic demands on health care, but sources told ABC News that Senate Republican leadership promised to allow a vote on a bill of Democrats' choosing related to the Affordable Care Act in December.
Though Johnson notably would not commit to holding a vote in the House on the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
"I do not guarantee the outcome of legislation or dates or deadlines or anything," he said on Monday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who opposed the Senate deal, said House Democrats are considering a discharge petition related to the ACA subsidies, but declined to provide specifics on the plan.
"We'll continue that fight today, tomorrow, this week, next week, this month, next month, this year, next year. We're going to continue that fight to fix our broken health care system and lower the high cost of living for the American people and the American people know that we're on the right side of this fight,” Jeffries said on Monday.
Such a move would require 218 signatures to force a vote in the House. There are several House Republicans who have advocated for a one-year extension of the ACA tax credits, though it's unlikely Johnson would support this effort.
