Breaking down the deal to reopen the government and what comes next

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

The longest ever U.S. government shutdown is on the verge of ending, but not for at least one more day.

Geoff Bennett:

And while a deal to reopen the government passed the Senate last night, there are still plenty of questions about what comes next.

Let's turn now to congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins.

All right, Lisa D., what is the latest?

Lisa Desjardins:

OK, as we speak, members of the House of Representatives are making their way by plane, car, one by motorcycle because they expect to vote on this deal tomorrow.

And part of that, there will be one new member in the House of Representatives. That is Adelita Grijalva. She is the elected representative from Arizona who has not been sworn in. Speaker Johnson has refused to swear her in, the Democrat, over the shutdown. That's a bigger story, but it will affect the voting tomorrow.

Now the House. Let's look at exactly what the situation is; 219 Republicans to 214 Democrats is what will be in place. Republicans therefore can just spare two votes in order to get this shutdown bill through without help. Democratic leaders don't want to give them that help. They are telling Democrats to vote no.

So this will be close. A reminder, the House tomorrow will be the first time it has met in 53 days. That is almost a modern record. At the same time, the country is still feeling the shutdown. Today, for example, we know there are some 1,200 flights canceled. Thousands more were delayed, air traffic controllers today missing their second paycheck, full paycheck.

Overall, Geoff, three million paychecks have gone missing during this shutdown. It has been unprecedented, not just in length, but also breadth.

Geoff Bennett:

And we have just learned the Supreme Court has extended the judge's order allowing the Trump administration not to fully fund those SNAP benefits, those food stamp benefits.

So you have read through this bill, the entirety of it. What else does it say?

Lisa Desjardins:

OK, a few things. One thing that stuck out is those mass layoffs that the administration put into place during the shutdown. They must be reversed within five days, the bill says, so very quickly.

Now, other things. There's a tremendous amount of spending in this bill on security, especially for members of Congress and officials, upwards of $400 million. Members of Congress themselves, each office will get a million dollars or more, depending on the office, for their personal security, the Supreme Court also getting security in this.

One other thing I want to point out, the hemp industry. I mentioned this last night. There was an attempt to reverse this, but the final bill does contain a ban on unregulated hemp with THC in it. That industry says that will crush it. So we have to see what economic effect that has, but that's something that looks like it's going to go through.

Geoff Bennett:

And what's all this mean for the health care debate, the Affordable Care Act subsidies?

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes, there's a lot to say there. There are early talks under way already. One person to watch is New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen. She's one of those Democrats who voted to end the shutdown.

Now, she's having early talks. They're just looking at options. The question is, which Republicans are truly open to talking to them? I have spoken to some Republicans who say, we really do want to get to something by December. They, of course, want to change the entire system. There is a chance for dialogue in the Senate.

In the House, we don't know if anything can move. Speaker Johnson has refused to say he will even hold a vote on health care. So we will watch that closely.

Geoff Bennett:

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history, what emerging lessons are there for lawmakers both practically and politically?

Lisa Desjardins:

One thing we have had is a lot of time to think about this shutdown, right? I'm not sure our lawmakers are thinking about it in quite the same way, but it's significant not just in its length, but also because of the troubling trend.

I looked at all the recent past shutdowns. So look at this. Notice something about the shutdowns we have been seeing. They have been happening in clusters, one or two at a time, and they have been growing. That one on the end is the current one, 43 days. And I raise this because of course, this shutdown solution means there will be another need in January, another time when Democrats, if they are not happy on health care, could threaten a shutdown again.

And we have seen this trend. Why does that matter even more? There's a deeper problem here, a lack of leadership in some ways, and also a vacuum where Congress has been giving away its power. We see these men and women who've been elected to legislate trying to legislate by doing — by blocking the one power they have, to fund government.

It's really an issue of balance of power, and favoring the executive.

Geoff Bennett:

Lisa Desjardins, our thanks to you, as always.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.