Following a two-and-a-half-hour caucus meeting on Sunday night, Senate Democrats announced they have secured sufficient votes to bring an end to the federal government’s exhausting 40-day shutdown.
A coalition of centrist Democrats, spearheaded by Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who aligns with Democrats, along with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire, successfully negotiated with Republican counterparts on the Senate Appropriations Committee, led by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, to reach an agreement to reopen the government.
Sen. King expressed to reporters post-meeting that the necessary votes to pass the agreement in the Senate are assured, emphasizing that Democrats supporting the bill believe the shutdown has persisted for far too long.
When questioned about his confidence in gathering enough votes for the bill’s passage, King replied to reporters, “That’s certainly what it looks like.”
The Senate is scheduled to reconvene at 8 p.m. on Sunday, with expectations to conduct a vote that evening to conclude the shutdown.
King noted that “the length of the shutdown” was a decisive factor in swaying Democrats to endorse the deal, which includes many proposals that have been under discussion for several weeks.
He said it became increasingly clear that Republicans were not going to agree to a deal to reopen the government and extend enhanced health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that are due to expire in January.
King says there’s still a “chance” the subsidies will be renewed because Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has promised as part of the deal to give Democrats a vote on the ACA subsidies in November.
“Part of the deal is a vote on the ACA subsidies,” he said.
He said that he and other members of the Democratic caucus want to end the shutdown in the next few days because “a lot of people are being hurt.”
The bill still needs to pass the House, which hasn’t voted since Sept. 19. It then needs to go President Trump’s desk for a signature.
Several Democrats emerged from the meeting, however, pledging to oppose the deal, including Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
“A wink and a nod to deal with this health care crisis later – with no actual guarantees – is just not enough for me or the Wisconsin families I work for,” Baldwin said in a statement.
