On this Sunday, the 40th day of the longest government shutdown in US history, five Democrats broke their party’s unity in the Senate and crossed over to the other side. With their votes, and with the votes of the three senators who have been allied with Republicans since the beginning of the elections closewhat is known in Washington parlance as the general spending lock-in that repeatedly hangs over the administration and that comes when the Capitol cannot reach an agreement, the governors were able to add the support they needed to implement the budget proposal to end the crisis.
It was six weeks of dog-eat-dog, during which both sides tried to blame each other for the paralysis. The decision of these eight members to defect to the Democratic side represents a victory for the Republicans, who have barely moved from their initial position.
It also opens a new crisis in the rival party, just one week after the resounding electoral victories on November 4 in New York, New Jersey and Virginia. It seemed at the time that voter support was equivalent to refusing to agree with the competitors to open the administration tap until certain commitments from opponents were achieved that were not ultimately fulfilled.
What agreement was reached?
On Sunday, Senate Republicans presented a document through which they were able to convince the five competitors that they were seeking to achieve the qualified majority required by obstruction. They agreed to reopen the federal administration’s tap through the end of January, fund food stamps for 42 million people through fiscal year 2026 and commit that the Trump administration will reinstate officials fired during these weeks, that it will retroactively pay salaries that those who kept their jobs did not receive, and that it will not fire any more federal employees in the next two and a half months. Three budget bills related to veterans, the Ministry of Agriculture and legislative bodies will also be signed.
The agreement also includes a commitment to hold a vote in the Senate on extending Obamacare subsidies (the name given to the Affordable Care Act by the president who promoted it). Dissenters have tried to pass this off as good news, even though it seems clear that it will do no good.
Neither Republicans nor Trump, who has been attacking this rule for several days, seem willing to convince their rivals on this point. Not to mention turning this aid into law. Democrats across the aisle argue that this vote will at least serve to highlight Trump and his family as one of the main concerns of Americans.
What’s left?
What has been a red line for Democrats from the beginning: Obamacare loans approved during the pandemic that will be discontinued at the end of this year. This will increase health insurance premiums for millions of Americans.
How were the votes in the Senate?
There are 100 seats in the United States Senate, two for each state. In the 2024 elections, Republicans won 53 votes, compared to 47 Democrats. There is conservative Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has aligned himself with challengers since the beginning of the crisis. And on Monday night, Paul did it again in a vote that passed cleanly: 60 If so For 40 it’s not.
Now what?
The House of Representatives, which has been in recess since September, must vote before the elections begin closeBy order (and political calculations) of its president, Mike Johnson. On Monday, Johnson announced in a press conference that he had ordered all members of Congress who were outside the capital to return to Washington. They have 36 hours to do so. The House, where Republicans hold a narrow but sufficient majority, had already ruled in favor of defunding the government before it shut down. Will do it again.
After that, US President Donald Trump must sign the proposal. No one in Washington is in a position to bet on a date when this process will be completed, although it is expected to be before the end of this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday.
Who are the senators who surrendered?
There are eight in total, seven Democrats and one independent. There are three who have never voted since October 1, the first day of the government shutdown. They are John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Catherine Cortez Masso (Nevada), and Independent Angus King (Maine).
Among those who changed their positions on Sunday were New Hampshire Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine (Virginia), Dick Durbin (Illinois) and Jacky Rosen (Nevada).
Everyone had their reasons. Kaine, for example, used the excuse that in his state, because of its proximity to Washington, there were about 300,000 civilian employees, who were either suspended from work and their pay, or because they were considered “essential,” had to go to work, but without pay. The two Nevadans have felt pressure from the tourism industry in Las Vegas and the rest of the state, affected by air traffic problems and flight cancellations, and by the closure or neglect of nature parks.
Durbin, who will not run for re-election in the next election scheduled for November 2026, said in a statement: “This bill is not perfect, but it takes important steps to reduce harm.” close“It is the whip”whip) is a Democrat in the Senate, and is therefore the only one of the dissidents who is part of the party’s leadership in the Senate.
When will normal life return to airports?
It is not possible to know until it is clear when the government will reopen. Yes, it is true that when they are finished, the domino effect of cancellations and delays will be felt for days. One of the worst effects of the government shutdown has been caused by airport monitors and security staff, who are essential workers. They were suspended from pay, but not from work: they had to go to their jobs, but without pay.
As many took leave or requested retirement, the FAA’s decision to cancel hundreds of flights at the 40 major airports in the United States to address air saturation took effect last Friday. After a chaotic weekend, 2,306 canceled flights were recorded on Monday, according to the FlightAware website. About 8,300 were delayed.
What about food stamps?
Again, it depends on when the reopening process that began with the defection of Democratic senators last Sunday ends. The Trump administration has done everything it can to suspend the SNAP food stamp system. Two judges blocked him from doing so, but the Supreme Court partially approved it last Friday. The government asked the states to recover the money that had reached 42 million beneficiaries of this program in recent days. This tug of war has created precedents, as well as chaos in the vital system of one in eight citizens of the country.
But what about the rest?
he close It paralyzed dozens of federal agencies and closed or neglected museums, monuments and natural parks. It also paid thousands of employees to food banks. The return to normal life in all cases is close, but a specific date cannot be predicted yet.
What will this government shutdown be remembered for?
Because he broke a historical record. Last Tuesday became the longest in the history of the United States, surpassing the last, which lasted 35 days: it began on December 22, 2018 and ended on January 25 of the following year. Then the contradiction is due to the Democrats’ refusal to fund the construction of Trump’s wall on the border with Mexico. the Lockdowns Clinton in 1995 (21 days) and Obama in 2013 (16 days) rank third and fourth.
The government has had to shut down 22 times in the past 50 years. And what’s about to be the third time this has happened with Trump in the White House.
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