Nov. 10 (UPI) — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said he called representatives to return to Washington, D.C., to vote on a Senate-backed measure that offered hope of reopening the government.
Despite the pending vote, Johnson further pushed against the Democrats’ battle to extend health insurance subsidies.
Monday marked the 41st day of the United States’ longest-running government shutdown, which started Oct. 1. It beat the previous longest shutdown of 35 days, which took place in 2018 and 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“There’ll be long days and long nights here for the foreseeable future to make up for all this lost time that was imposed upon us,” Johnson, R-La., told reporters.
Senators held a procedural vote Sunday in which seven Democrats and one Independent joined Republicans to narrowly advance a funding measure. In exchange for the Democrats’ votes, Republicans agreed to hold a vote in the future on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. There are more steps to take before senators hold an official vote on legislation to fund the government through January, including a measure on how long the chamber will debate.
Democrats had repeatedly voted against a House-passed stopgap measure out of concerns over a lack of an extension to the ACA tax credits, set to expire end of December. More than 20 million U.S. citizens currently rely the ACA on for health insurance.
“The American people have now awoken to Trump’s healthcare crisis,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
“Healthcare is once again at the forefront of people’s minds,” Schumer stated on the Senate floor. “People now see that premiums are about to skyrocket. They’re terrified about how they’re going to pay for their insurance.”
The new measure would reverse all shutdown-related job layoffs, guarantee federal worker pay during the shutdown, establish a specific budget process and fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through September.
Johnson said he will give a 36-hour notice before any House votes on the floor, but did not offer a specific timeline.
The speaker, who has kept the lower chamber out of session, indicated that a vote could occur as early as this week.
Any bill passed by both chambers will require a signature by Trump to become law.
“I said that we will be voting on the final package in the very near future, and I’m hoping that will be hours and not days,” said Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota on Monday.
“I’m grateful that the end is in sight, but I would encourage every member of this body, Democrat or Republican, pro-bill or anti-bill, not to stand in the way of being able to deliver the coming relief quickly,” he added.
Thune said the American people “have suffered for long enough.”