House returns for vote to end the government shutdown after nearly 2 months away

WASHINGTON AP House lawmakers will make a long-awaited return to the nation s capital on Wednesday after nearly eight weeks away to potentially put an end to the longest federal regime shutdown in U S history The House is scheduled to take up a bill to reopen the administration that the Senate passed on Monday night President Donald Trump called the measure a very big success The prospect of journey delays due to the shutdown could complicate the vote Still Speaker Mike Johnson noted the GOP was very optimistic about the outcome We think this is going to happen and we re sorry it took this long Johnson R-La stated reporters The House has not been in legislative session since Sept when it passed a short-term measure to keep the executive open when the new budget year began in October Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act saying House Republicans did their job Democrats seized on the opportunity to cast Republicans as going on vacation while the federal workforce went without paychecks travelers experienced airport delays and food assistance benefits expired Johnson explained members were doing vital work in their districts helping constituents manage the shutdown The vast majority of Democratic lawmakers are expected to vote against the bill because it does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of this year and make coverage more affordable Our strong expectation is that Democrats will be strongly opposed Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York reported Tuesday night But Johnson revealed of the pending measure that our long national nightmare is decisively coming to an end and we re grateful for that After days of wandering in the wilderness and making the American people suffer needlessly particular Senate Democrats ultimately have stepped forward to end the pain Johnson declared The compromise to end the shutdown The Senate bill included buy-in from eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on the medical care tax credits Meanwhile the shutdown s toll was growing by the day Wednesday was Day The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of establishment funding through Jan Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the wellbeing care subsidies but there is no guarantee of success We had reached a point where I think a number of us assumed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about robustness care noted Sen Jeanne Shaheen D-N H The promise for a future vote gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward The decree includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year The package includes million to boost safety for lawmakers and an additional million for the prevention of Supreme Court justices Democrats are also seizing on language that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them The language seems aimed at helping Republican lawmakers pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an inquiry into Trump s efforts to overturn his balloting loss to Democrat Joe Biden We re going to tattoo that provision just like we re going to tattoo the Republican physical condition care emergency on the foreheads of every single House Republican who dares vote for this bill Jeffries noted Republican Rep Tom Cole of Oklahoma chairman of the House Appropriations Committee stated Democrats were being hypocritical in blaming the GOP for the expiring tax credit It s a subsidy on top of a subsidy Our friends added it during COVID he mentioned of Democrats COVID is over They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out They chose the date By the way they did it without any Republican votes Countless Democrats are calling the passage of the spending bill a mistake Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the establishment open noted he could not aid the bill because it fails to do anything of substance to fix America s healthcare emergency Independent Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats mentioned giving up the fight was a horrific mistake Sen Chris Murphy D-Conn agreed saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week s elections were urging them to hold firm Fitness care debate ahead It s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on robustness care before the December vote in the Senate Johnson has declared he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber Particular Republicans have revealed they are open to extending the COVID- pandemic-era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies Particular argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals Sen Susan Collins R-Maine chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee commented Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes such as new income caps Various Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea We do need to act by the end of the year and that is exactly what the majority leader has promised Collins stated Other Republicans including Trump have used the debate to renew their yearslong criticism of the heath law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled In a workable preview the Senate voted along party lines Monday not to extend the subsidies for a year Republicans allowed the vote as part of a separate deal with Democrats to speed up a final vote