People wait in line at the security checkpoint at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport on November 9, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The FAA targeted 40 high-traffic airports, including Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, for flight restrictions amid the government shutdown. (Photo: Grant Baldwin/Getty Images)
This report has been updated.
WASHINGTON — Seven U.S. Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans on Sunday evening in working on legislation to reopen the government and temporarily keep it afloat through the end of January, after a record shutdown that began on Oct. 1.
Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada voted with the GOP majority on a 60-40 procedural vote to pass the stopgap measure.
Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent lawmaker who caucuses with Democrats, also voted in favor of the resolution.
Fetterman, King and Cortez Masto have already voted with Republicans in the previous 14 votes to reopen the government. By Sunday, Republicans controlling the chamber fell low of the 60 votes needed to exceed the filibuster threshold.
GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has consistently voted against the stopgap funding, cast his “no” vote again.
The deal would also unlock full-year funding for a key food assistance program that serves 42 million Americans and put federal workers laid off by President Donald Trump after the government shutdown back to work.
It does not include language addressing skyrocketing premiums for people enrolled in individual health insurance plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, a major sticking point for Democrats. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-D., said overdue Sunday on the Senate floor that he is committed to holding a separate vote on health insurance subsidies no later than the second week of December.
At a news conference after the vote, Rosen said Democrats “also have a chance to put Republicans on the ACA file.”
“Are they committed to this? Are they committed leaders who said, ‘You will be able to come to the table on health care when the government is open?’ And now they have to deliver on that. If Republicans want to join us in lowering costs for working families, they have a great opportunity to show that to the American public,” Rosen said.
New text for fleeting interim financing agreement published on Sunday evening proposes that the government remain inactive until January 30. The bill would also reinstate all federal employees who were laid off after the shutdown began, restoring them to their jobs with back pay, and would prohibit any further layoffs until the fleeting funding expires.
As part of the deal, three fiscal year 2026 funding bills will be attached to the package, including appropriations bills for agricultural programs, veterans benefits, military construction and Congress.
Divided Democrats
Several Senate Democrats left a long closed-door meeting Sunday night, upset that the deal did nothing to address rising health care premiums, for which the party had placed a 40-day shutdown.
At the end of this year, subsidies for people purchasing insurance on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchange expire.
“As far as I’m concerned, health care is not included, so I’m on it,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, R-Conn.
Sense. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin also released statements after the caucus meeting saying they would vote no. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also told reporters as he left the meeting that he opposed the agreement.
Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey said on social media that he would oppose it. “I have been clear that we need real action to stop the devastating rise in health care costs that is harming millions of families,” he said.
Sen. Tim Kaine, R-Va., issued a statement expressing support for the agreement, noting that Senate Republicans had promised a vote on extending health care subsidies.
“This deal guarantees a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act tax breaks, which Republicans have been unwilling to do. Lawmakers know that their constituents expect them to vote for it, and if they don’t, they could very well be replaced at the ballot box by someone who will,” Kaine said.
It will take time for the government to reopen
Sunday’s vote doesn’t mean the government will reopen immediately.
The legislation must advance through procedural steps in the Senate and then receive approval from the U.S. House of Representatives, which has not been in session since September 19. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, attended the Washington Commanders-Trump football game in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday.
Trump spoke briefly to reporters following news of the agreement after leaving the NFL game, telling them, “It looks like we’re very close to ending the suspension.”
Nearly a million federal workers did not receive paychecks during the shutdown, and food benefits for the poorest Americans stopped flowing in early November.
As the shutdown drags on, air travel has also become complex, with air traffic controllers under pressure due to lack of pay. The Federal Aviation Administration began cutting out flights Friday at 40 major airports across the U.S. The cuts are expected to reduce air traffic by up to 10%.
SNAP financing
The agreement includes provisions that Democrats say the Trump administration wanted to reduce or cut altogether, including subsidies for fresh fruits and vegetables for mothers with children and monthly food boxes for low-income seniors.
The legislation would allocate $8.2 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, an raise of about $600 million over last year’s program amount.
During the shutdown, the administration used $150 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funds to continue the program. The account was supposed to be filled with money for unforeseen expenses.
The bill also fully funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and child nutrition programs, including subsidized school breakfasts and lunches and food availability during school summer breaks.
Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee say it included “crucial funding for SNAP and other key nutrition programs as President Trump fights in court during the government shutdown to cut off benefits to 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP to feed their families,” study finds bill summary.
The USDA ordered states to begin making November SNAP benefits available on beneficiaries’ debit cards after a federal district judge and a Rhode Island district court ordered the Trump administration to do so last week.
Trump appealed the order to the Supreme Court, which stayed the decision. The department’s Saturday memo told states that they had made full benefits available take back some of them.
The bill would also direct money to the SNAP emergency fund.
Cannabis ban
Hemp farmers are raising alarm over a provision of the bill that they believe will “effectively eliminate the legal hemp industry built under the 2018 Farm Bill,” according to a Sunday statement from the Hemp Industry and Farmers of America.
Lawmakers are “slamming the doors on 325,000 American jobs and forcing consumers back into a dangerous black market,” said Brian Swensen, the industry group’s executive director.
Swensen also added: “The cannabis industry has been ready and willing to work on responsible regulations – age restrictions, testing requirements, proper labeling – but instead of cooperation, the industry is receiving misguided prohibition in the form of back-door appropriation agreements.”
Home anxiety
Several House Democrats, including the principal owner, criticized the agreement.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blamed Republicans for the proposal in a Sunday evening statement, saying Democrats in the House and Senate have “fought a valiant fight” over the past seven weeks.
“Now it looks like Senate Republicans will send a spending bill to the House of Representatives that will not extend tax breaks under the Affordable Care Act. As a result of Republicans’ refusal to address the health care crisis they have created, tens of millions of ordinary Americans will see their costs skyrocket,” Jeffries said.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the main owner of the Democratic House of Representatives, stated that she does not agree to the publication of the Act on Veterans and the Construction of Military Facilities as annexes to the agreement.
“Congress must invest in veterans, address the health care crisis that is driving up costs for more than 20 million Americans, and stop President Trump from failing to spend appropriate dollars on behalf of our communities,” DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement.
Rep. Angie Craig joined other House Democrats in sharply criticizing the Senate negotiations on social media.
“If people believe this is a ‘deal,’ I have a bridge for you. I’m not going to put 24 million Americans at risk of losing their health care. I’m against it,” said Craig of Minnesota.
