- Government shutdown exit strategy progresses
- Senate bill goes to House
- New deadline Jan. 30 next year
- Democrats win off-year elections
The Senate has developed a compromise that should allow the government to open this week. The compromise changes the House-passed bill that passed weeks ago and had a Nov. 21 deadline for Congress to pass the spending bills or face another shutdown. Under the rules of Congress, any bill that goes to the president for his signature must have passed both the House and Senate with exactly the same language.
The Senate bill moves the deadline to Jan. 30, 2026, adds additional language for funding some government agencies such as agriculture and veterans’ construction, as well as protecting federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown. With these changes, it is necessary for the House to approve the Senate passing bill. The Speaker, who has not held a House session in weeks, will now have to bring the House back to Washington to vote on the legislation so it can be signed by the president.
The vote to end the CR filibuster occurred during an unusual Sunday session of the Senate when a group of moderate Democrats came out of a party caucus declaring that the shutdown had gone on too long and was hurting too many people. The Senate must now pass the revised bill and send it to the House.
With the current House party line up 219Rs and 214Ds, the speaker can only lose two R votes if all Ds vote No. In the coming weeks, Congress should be able to pass the 12 spending bills required to fund the government for the new fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.
Senate Leader John Thune has promised a vote on the Affordable Care Act subsidies before the expiration deadline at year-end.
With the House back in session, the Speaker will likely have to swear in the Arizona Representative, Adelita Grijalva, who was elected in September to fill a vacancy created by the death of Representative Raul Grivalva. The newly elected member, daughter of the late Representative, has said that she will sign the discharge petition which requires the Justice Department to hand over all the Epstein files. Assuming she does indeed sign the petition, and no one removes their name, the House will need to vote on the “discharge petition” and force action on the files.
Elections
Last week saw several off-year elections that sent some strong signals that Republicans are facing pressures caused by Trump Administration policies. Democratic candidates won sizable victories in both New Jersey and Virginia, saw a large victory for redistricting in California, and Democrats had strong showings on local issues in Pennsylvania and Georgia. In total, they sent warning signals to Republicans with the midterm elections in 2026. The elections next year will see all 435 House seats up for election and 33 Senate seats. The House elections are often a barometer of the national mood, and on average the party that controls the White House loses 23 seats in the House, making the current three seat House Republican majority in real jeopardy.
At a meeting last week, at the White House between the president and Senate Republicans, the president reportedly said that the Republicans lost votes because of the shutdown; adding pressure on Republicans to work on ending the crisis.