On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives approved a bill ending the government shutdown (close) is the longest in American history, starting 43 days ago. After a 54-day vacation, US representatives returned to the plenary session of the House of Representatives today to discuss and vote on the legislation, which will fund the government until January 30. With a close vote of 222 to 209, the spending package — also approved by the Senate on Monday — goes to President Donald Trump for approval, who has already signaled his approval of the project. Minutes before the final vote began, the White House reported that Trump intends to sign the bill today at 11:45 pm (Brasilia time).
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Despite the majority of Republicans in the Council, which holds 219 seats compared to 214 for Democrats, the result has not yet been determined until the final moments of voting. Confirming doubts about the full support of government officials and the non-unanimous rejection of the opposition, two Republicans voted against the project and six Democrats voted in favor of it. Democratic defectors include Adam Gray of California, Mary Glusenkamp Perez of Washington, Jared Golden of Maine, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Tom Suozzi of New York, and Don Davis of North Carolina. Two representatives, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, did not participate in the vote.
The Democrats’ rejection is mainly due to the fact that the legislation on the table does not meet their main demand during the election close: Expanding federal health benefits to about 24 million people, which is critical in a country that does not have a public health system. The aid expires at the end of December, and the Republican base – which Trump supports – had no plans to extend its validity.
The legislation passed Wednesday includes spending bills covering programs related to agriculture, military construction, veterans and legislative agencies for most of next year. The measure also includes a provision that would restore the jobs of federal employees laid off during the shutdown and guarantee retroactive pay for those placed on unpaid leave, topics that opposition Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has claimed as contingent on formalizing his support for the proposal.
In the Senate, approval required numerous negotiations and the bill was approved by 60 votes, the minimum needed to be brought before the chamber for consideration. Among those who helped pass the resolution were 52 Republicans and 8 centrist Democrats who decided to surrender to a bipartisan spending agreement to try to end the shutdown.
One Republican strategy to gain approval in the Senate was to promise Sen. John Thune, the Republican majority leader, that he would vote to extend the subsidy in December in exchange for support for ending the subsidy. close.
The support of the eight Democrats was met with much internal criticism and revealed splits in the party less than a week after important electoral victories, such as winning the governorship of Virginia and New Jersey, in addition to approving a new district map in California and electing Zahran Mamdani, who describes himself as a socialist, as mayor of New York. These results confirmed, according to analysts, that Trump is fed up among voters who consider the Republican president to be the biggest culprit in the presidential elections. closeIt is a responsibility he attributes to the opposition.
On Sunday, after the initial vote on the proposal in the Senate, Senator Bernie Sanders rated the night as “very bad.” Sanders, an independent but who votes Democratic, said Democrats were in danger of causing a “political and public disaster” and that “it would be a grave mistake to give in to Trump now.” Elissa Slotkin, a senator from Michigan, announced that the promise to vote on extending support was not enough, a position shared by Tammy Baldwin.
The government shutdown had severe consequences for the American economy and society. For weeks, the chamber remained practically inactive, without any bill being analyzed, holding a hearing, or discussing in plenary. As actors went on vacation — which they quickly described as remote work rather than a nearly two-month vacation — hundreds of thousands of federal employees went without pay, millions of low-income Americans wondered whether they would receive food aid, and angry air travelers dealt with thousands of delays and cancellations.
The Trump administration suspended funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the period close. The action generated a judicial logjam from the moment the Supreme Court overturned the federal court’s decision — which forced the White House to release Snap’s corporate resources during the shutdown.
After Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson authorized the administrative suspension so that the Supreme Court could analyze the government’s request to withhold funds, the case was referred last Tuesday to the plenary session of the court, which decided to maintain the temporary blockade and extend it until tomorrow (Thursday). The decision allowed the government to withhold billions of dollars allocated to purchase food for 42 million low-income Americans while negotiations to end the closure progress.
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During the government shutdown, air traffic controllers are not receiving salaries and many are unemployed, which has directly impacted the job capacity of the country’s aviation sector. For this reason, the Trump administration ordered a reduction in the number of flights at 40 airports in the country by up to 10%, in order to overcome staff shortages. Last Friday, the first day of the decision in effect, 7,016 postponed flights and 1,025 canceled flights were recorded in the United States, including domestic flights and flights departing and terminating in the country. On Sunday, airports witnessed the peak of the crisis, with 11,229 flights delayed and 2,954 flights cancelled.
As essential workers, monitors are forced to continue working without pay, and as a result, many have lost work due to illness or taken second jobs to make ends meet, according to unions. Another factor that has directly contributed to the crisis scenario at US airports is that the majority of the 64,000 agents at the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) are not receiving their salaries either.
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