End of shutdown in sight as some Democrats break with leadership to make deal with GOP

Geoff Bennett:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

At 41 days and counting, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is not over yet, but the end could be in sight.

Amna Nawaz:

A group of Democrats and one independent crossed the aisle last night to make a deal with Republicans. It still needs final approval, but the government could reopen as soon as this week.

Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins has more.

Lisa Desjardins:

In the Senate today, a question of time, Majority Leader John Thune pushing for speed.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD):

Mr. President, after 41 days, I'm grateful to be able to say that we are close to getting the government reopened. And, again, I ask all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle of both parties to make it possible for us to quickly pass this bill.

Lisa Desjardins:

This after a breakthrough last night.

Man:

On this vote, the yeas are 60 and the nays are 40.

Lisa Desjardins:

A shutdown deal getting exactly the votes needed to get over a Senate hurdle. Seven Democrats and one independent voted with Republicans to advance the idea.

Sen. Angus King (I-ME):

It was our judgment, after six weeks, going on seven weeks of this shutdown, that that path wasn't working.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV):

We can open the government and we can still fight to address this looming health care crisis.

Lisa Desjardins:

The deal is multifaceted. It funds most of government through January 30, but funds some things like Veterans Affairs, the SNAP food program, and Congress itself through next fall.

The deal reverses thousands of mass layoffs ordered in the shutdown and blocks more until at least February. But it does nothing on expiring health care subsidies, instead promising a Senate vote on the issue next month. And that's why most Democrats, including Leader Chuck Schumer, were hard no's.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

I cannot support the Republican bill that's on the floor, because it fails to do anything of substance to fix America's health care crisis. We wanted to fix it. Republicans said no, and now it's on them.

Lisa Desjardins:

This has been the longest federal shutdown in history. In the past week, with air traffic controllers and TSA agents calling out sick, thousands of flights have been canceled, with social media capturing one pilot's plea this weekend.

Man:

I don't really care what your political persuasion is, but you should really call your senator.

Lisa Desjardins:

More than a million federal workers have been without pay, some turning to food banks. Furloughed NIH researcher Theresa Kim used her time to volunteer. This charity called Comfort Cases helps foster kids. She has wanted the shutdown to end, but as a private citizen, sees this deal in her word as a betrayal.

Theresa Kim, Furloughed Government Worker:

I don't view this as a victory when something is promised, even though it was already a law. And then when I hear stories such as, we won't have any more furloughs — or sorry — or RIFs Until the end of January, again, I find that to be such a low bar.

Lisa Desjardins:

All eyes remain on the Capitol, as lawmakers work out exactly when this shutdown ends.

Today, I followed up with a large number of other federal workers who I have been keeping in touch with. They are sharply divided. One of them said to me, frankly, this was the worst way, in her words, for Democrats to cave.

But another said this was 100 percent a smart move by the eight who broke ranks. Still, a third said their feelings about this are complicated.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa, I know you're talking to your sources up on Capitol Hill. When it comes to the shutdown and the deal to end it, what's the latest?

Lisa Desjardins:

Yes, the news is happening.

Let's take a look at the Senate floor. This is what we see at the moment, senators voting. This is the moment that we have been waiting for in the U.S. Senate. This is a series of eight votes. Senate procedure is complicated, so they're going to compress all of that procedure. They're able to speed this up because all senators agreed.

That especially includes Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. He had a decision to make. Was he going to string this out over a couple of days? He has a problem with the provision about the hemp industry in it, but he's agreed to let this go forward more quickly.

So what this means, Amna, is, we expect these votes to make it through the Senate, the entire deal through the Senate tonight. Then the House must pass it. We don't expect the House back until Wednesday. But if everything stays on track, if members are able to make it back in town by Wednesday night, this shutdown could end Wednesday night.

And, Thursday, we could have government open for the first full days in well over a month.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa, what about all the things that were disrupted during the shutdown, like air travel, as you reported? When can those get back to normal?

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

Transportation Secretary Duffy said today that it will take days to possibly a week for air travel to normalize again. Now, as for worker pay, that could be flowing more quickly. But as we saw with the DOGE disruptions earlier this year, there could be some technical glitches because we're talking about massive payment systems, not only for federal workers, but for things like Head Start and SNAP, all that have been rung up for a month.

So all of those things could get started quickly, but we just don't know where there could be some problems. We're also watching the Democratic Party, of course. There are a lot of questions about Senator Chuck Schumer, his leadership through this, but he will have another chance because there will be a vote on something, on health care in December, and it will be the next test for Senate Democrats.

Amna Nawaz:

All right, Lisa Desjardins reporting from Capitol Hill tonight.

Lisa, thank you.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.