The federal government appears positioned to reopen this week after the Senate advanced a clean continuing resolution late Sunday evening, ending a shutdown that has stretched into its fortieth day. President Donald Trump expressed his support for the measure Monday, signaling an end to the impasse that has kept portions of the government closed since mid-December.
The procedural vote represented a significant shift in the Democratic caucus, with eight members breaking with their leadership to provide the necessary votes for advancement. The bill requires one additional 60-vote threshold before proceeding to final passage, though time agreements suggest this hurdle will be cleared shortly.
“I think, based on everything I’m hearing, they haven’t changed anything, and we have support from enough Democrats, and we’re going to be opening up our country,” President Trump stated when asked about his position on the agreement. “It’s too bad it was closed, but we’ll be opening up our country very quickly.”
The continuing resolution funds the government at 2024 and 2025 levels through January 2026. Packaged alongside the measure are three appropriations bills extending funding for agriculture, military construction, Veterans Affairs, and the legislative branch through the 2026 fiscal year.
The agreement marks a substantial retreat from Democratic demands articulated in recent months. Party leadership had insisted on extensions of pandemic-era healthcare subsidies as a precondition for cooperation. Instead, Democrats secured only an assurance of a future vote on a bill of their choosing in the Senate.
Additional provisions in the agreement include back pay for federal employees and guarantees that approximately 4,000 federal workers laid off during the shutdown will be rehired. The measure also includes a blanket prohibition on future reductions in force through January 30. These positions represent a fraction of the roughly 250,000 positions the Trump administration eliminated before the shutdown began.
The Democratic senators who voted to advance the bill included Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Angus King of Maine, all of whom had supported a previous House-passed clean continuing resolution. Also voting in favor were Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. The latter five had repeatedly voted against the House measure in previous attempts.
The defection from party leadership represents a notable erosion of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s influence within his caucus. President Trump addressed this dynamic in late October, suggesting that Schumer’s political standing had diminished considerably. The President indicated that internal divisions within the Democratic Party had weakened Schumer’s position and questioned whether the New York senator would seek reelection.
The resolution of this shutdown comes after weeks of negotiations and political maneuvering. With bipartisan support now secured, federal operations are expected to resume normal function within days, ending one of the longer government closures in recent memory.
The agreement demonstrates the practical limitations of extended shutdowns as a negotiating tactic, particularly when public pressure mounts and political unity fractures. For the Trump administration, the resolution represents an opportunity to move forward with its governing agenda without the complications of a partially closed federal government.
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