Washington DC [US], November 11: The U.S. Senate on Sunday night advanced a bipartisan spending package in a bid to end the longest government shutdown, which has entered its 40th day and caused a series of escalating disruptions.
The upper chamber voted 60-40 in a key procedural vote to move forward a spending package, which would fund most federal agencies at current levels through Jan. 30, and fund the Agriculture Department, the Veterans Affairs Department and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress, for the full fiscal year.
This package will provide full-year funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, whose funding was put in jeopardy amid the prolonged government shutdown.
Meanwhile, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which help lower-income Americans afford private health insurance and are set to expire at the end of the year, are not guaranteed under the agreement, a key point of concern for Democrats.
As part of Democrats' agreement to end the shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised Senate Democrats a vote "no later than second week in December" to extend ACA subsidies.
However, the funding agreement has revealed significant divisions within the Democratic Party.
"For me, it's no deal without health care," Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, was quoted by CNN as saying. "So far as I'm concerned, health care isn't included, and so I'll be a no."
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York also voted against advancing the package.
The subsidies have become a focal point in ongoing discussions over government funding.
Before the key procedural vote, President Donald Trump said Saturday that funds currently being used for ACA subsidies should instead be sent directly to consumers.
In a Truth Social post, he wrote that "the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over."
The move was likely to further complicate the ongoing government shutdown stalemate, as Democrats have been holding out for a straightforward extension of the ACA subsidies and have made clear they are not interested in trading them for other changes, according to an Axios article.
After the key procedural vote to end the filibuster, the spending package will possibly be approved in the Senate's final vote. The revised proposal still needs to be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to Trump for his signature.
As the two parties made progress, nearly 3,000 flights were canceled and over 10,000 were delayed nationwide on Sunday, underscoring the shutdown's increasing impact on Americans' daily lives.
Beyond disrupting everyday life, the record-breaking government shutdown is now affecting other areas as well.
U.S. military base grocery stores could begin closing in early December if the federal shutdown continues, with unit leaders warning that about 168 stateside commissaries may wind down soon after Thanksgiving, Task & Purpose reported Saturday, citing messages to service members and the Defense Commissary Agency.
The agency, which operates roughly 235 commissaries on military installations worldwide, said stores will remain open through the holiday. However, its director told an industry webinar that while commissaries can "sprint through Thanksgiving," they would begin closing U.S. locations in early December without new funding.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
