The House may vote as early as Wednesday afternoon on a measure that will end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, but Democrats remain deeply divided about whether to support it.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Today, the House returns to take up legislation that would end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. In a moment, we’ll hear from Republican Congressman Mike Lawler.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have also been hearing from Democrats, many of whom are upset with this deal and the handful of their Senate colleagues who voted for it.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales has been following this – what? – 43 days of a shutdown. Is this the end? Is this over with now?
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: It truly could be. House lawmakers will be back in town today for the first time since House Speaker Mike Johnson let them go home in September before the shutdown even began. The House Rules Committee met for more than seven hours last night. And they moved this bill to the floor just a few hours ago, and that sets the stage for a final vote later tonight. And as you recall, this deal came together after a group of Senate Democrats broke ranks to vote with Republicans to end the government shutdown, and they sent this bill to the House. Now, the package includes a stopgap measure to fund the government at least through the end of January, with full-year appropriations plans funding some of those federal agencies and services.
MARTÍNEZ: The thing is that Senate deal does not include anything about extending the health care subsidies that Democrats were dug in on. So what did they get instead?
GRISALES: Right. Exactly. That was a key demand from Democrats, and this deal doesn’t address that. Instead, they secured a promise for a vote in December on health care and a commitment to negotiate a plan to address those subsidies. Those who broke with the party in the Senate said they got the best deal possible. And that includes those full-year appropriations plans, which were negotiated between the parties over several months. Meanwhile, other Senate Democrats who voted no argued they weren’t making good to reopen the government in exchange for addressing these expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. That’s spiking premiums.
So those who are upset – it carries over to the House. And the fury is only worse there, where we expect most Democrats to vote no on this plan. Several progressives, for example, have called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to be ousted from his leadership role, even as he voted no on the plan. And last night, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dodged a question on this with reporters in terms of Schumer’s role. And so a reminder the party’s really struggling to reconcile the various factions around this deal.
MARTÍNEZ: Claudia, the promise to vote…
GRISALES: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: …In December on the Affordable Care Act subsidies – what might come out of that?
GRISALES: Well, we could see a deal come out of that, possibly, but it’s a very tall order. It’s going to be a really difficult negotiation for Congress, especially in these ultrapartisan times. And we already know that Republicans have demands on ACA reforms that many Democrats won’t be able to stomach, such as installing new restrictions for care related to abortions. And even if it can pass the Senate, it’s not clear Speaker Mike Johnson will bring it up for a vote in the House. But we do know Democrats have warned, if Republicans do not hold up their end of the deal and negotiate a plan to extend these subsidies, they will hold Republicans’ feet to the fire when most of the government’s funding ends January 30 under this current plan. So it could be something we’re still talking about come next year and into the midterm elections.
MARTÍNEZ: And we’ll be here for all of it. That’s NPR’s Claudia Grisales. Thanks a lot.
GRISALES: Thank you.
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