WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump has signed into law a measure to reopen the government. House lawmakers made a long-awaited return to the nation’s capital Wednesday after nearly eight weeks away to put an end to the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
The shutdown entered Day 43 on Wednesday. Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces and refused to go along with a spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time. Neither side had enough votes to get a spending bill through the Senate until earlier this week.
The shutdown magnified the stark partisan divisions within Congress, and that split screen was reflected when lawmakers began debating the measure on the House floor mid-afternoon.
Democrats said Republicans moved at the speed of light to provide “tax breaks to billionaires” earlier this year, but they won’t prevent people’s health insurance premiums from skyrocketing. Republicans said Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a policy dispute.
“Democrats chose politics over people,” Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., said at the start of debate. “They refused to support a common-sense measure, and American families paid the price.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., shot back that the bill before the House “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care.”
The House had not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans did their job.
Democrats seized on the opportunity to cast Republicans as going on vacation while the federal workforce went without paychecks, travelers experienced airport delays and food assistance benefits expired. Johnson said members were doing important work in their districts helping constituents navigate the shutdown.
Before debate began, Democratic lawmakers gathered on the Capitol steps to denounce the measure.
“We cannot support the Republican effort to gut the health care of the American people,” said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
But Johnson said of the pending legislation that “our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that.”
The legislation included buy-in from eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the health care tax credits. Meanwhile, the shutdown’s toll was growing by the day.
The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.
“We had reached a point where I think a number of us believed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about health care,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. The promise for a future vote “gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward.”
The legislation includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.
The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.
Democrats are also seizing on language that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation. Democrats called for removal of the provision.
The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The provisions drew criticism from Republicans as well. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said he’s already introduced repeal legislation that he hoped would be voted on quickly.
The biggest point of contention, though, was the fate of the expiring enhanced tax credit that makes health insurance more affordable through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
“It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date. … By the way, they did it without any Republican votes.”
Most Democrats call the passage of the spending bill a mistake. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said the bill “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s healthcare crisis.”
Without the enhanced tax credit, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week’s elections were urging them to “hold firm.”
It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.
Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.
House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overall for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.
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