Senate votes to end shutdown!
Washington, Nov 9 (EFE).-
The United States Senate secured the procedural vote advancing toward a bill to unlock funds to reopen the federal government after a record 40-day shutdown due to a lack of agreement.
Shortly before 11 pm, the Senate obtained the 60 votes needed to move toward a compromise that would allow federal employees and agencies to be paid, after seven Democratic senators and Angus King, an independent who usually votes with the Democrats, decided to break with their party to allow the budget to be extended until Jan. 30.
The Democrats who voted to unblock the process on the Senate floor explained that it was clear the Republicans were not going to budge and that there was only one agreement on the table and this was the best option to reopen the government.
The agreement, which still needs to pass further votes in the Senate and finally the House of Representatives, will allow the resumption of payments to the more than 650,000 federal employees who have gone more than a month without receiving a paycheck, including back pay, as well as funding for the Departments of Agriculture, responsible for food stamps for the poorest Americans, Veterans Affairs, and other agencies until Jan. 30.
As part of Sunday’s negotiations, the Republican side assured the Democrats that in December they would vote to extend the subsidies of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which expire this year and had become the major obstacle to extending the budget.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer opposed Sunday’s agreement, asserting that while the federal government was shut down, President Donald Trump held affected Americans “hostage” by suspending the food assistance program for families, veterans, the elderly, and children.
“This health care crisis is so severe, so urgent, so devastating for families back home that I cannot in good faith support this CR that fails to address the health care crisis,” Schumer said. His opposition was also echoed by progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren, who declared the agreement a “big mistake.”
“Now I understand that not all of my Democratic colleagues are satisfied with this agreement, but waiting another week or another month wouldn’t deliver a better outcome,” said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire, who has led the negotiations with the Republican caucus to overcome the impasse.
The Democratic senators who voted to surpass the 60-out-of-100 threshold, said that one of their main objectives is to ensure that Obamacare coverage is maintained for the millions of Americans who depend on it.
The federal government shutdown has lasted a record 40 days and has resulted in the suspension of pay for several hundred thousand federal employees, the closure of essential services, the non-payment of food stamps to the poorest Americans, and lengthy delays at airports and in air traffic due to a shortage of air traffic controllers and airport security personnel.
Faced with the lack of salaries, many employees have been forced to rely on food donations or take out emergency loans, all while a large number continued working without receiving their paychecks.
Analysts were beginning to fear that the prolonged federal government shutdown would begin to have an irreversible impact on the growth of the US economy. EFE jmr/pd
