Legislation to End Longest Government Shutdown Now Over to the House

Tonight the Senate cleared the bill to end the government shutdown, which has lasted 41 days so far. Eight Democrats and Independents again joined 52 Republicans for final passage of the Continuing Resolution. Because the Senate made changes to the House-passed version, the House must vote on it again, which could happen as soon as Wednesday. If it clears the House and is signed into law, most government agencies will be funded at their current levels through January 30, 2026.

The vote in the Senate this evening was the same as last night, 60-40, with seven Democrats and one Independent joining all but one Republican to reopen the government even though they did not get any agreement to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health subsidies that were at the heart of the stalemate. Republicans consistently said they would not negotiate over the ACA until the government reopened and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has agreed only to hold a vote on it by the second week in December. Whatever the Senate does is not binding on the House.

Two Democrats and one Independent — Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada), John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), and Angus King (I-Maine) — voted with 52 Republicans 14 times in favor of the House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating at current funding levels until Congress passes the 12 FY2026 appropriations bills. Thune kept hoping five more would join them and yesterday, the 40th day of the shutdown, he got his wish. Dick Durbin (Illinois), Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire), Tim Kaine (Virginia), Jacky Rosen (Nevada), and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) voted yes to reopen the government despite significant backlash from Senate and House colleagues.

The same eight voted yes tonight on the CR, H.R. 5371, as amended by last night’s agreement. Republican Rand Paul (Kentucky) opposes CRs and voted against the bill every time, which is why Thune needed eight instead of seven from the other side of the aisle to vote with all other Republicans. The Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two Independents who caucus with the Democrats.

The original version of the CR that passed the House on September 19 covered through November 21, which is fast approaching so a new date was needed. This new version lasts until January 30, 2026.

Although the Senate bill doesn’t include any of the ACA-related provisions Democrats sought, it does prevent Reductions-in-Force (RIFs) through January 30 and undos any RIFs imposed since October 1, as well as guaranteeing back pay to government workers.

The goal is to pass all 12 regular FY2026 appropriations bills before January 30. Three of them are incorporated in this bill: Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Legislative Branch, and Agriculture.

When all 12 appropriations bills are combined into a single package it is called an “omnibus.” When there are smaller packages like this, it’s a “minibus.”  If the House passes this minibus, the other nine appropriations bills probably will be grouped into other minibuses for consideration. Those departments and agencies, including Defense, NASA, and NOAA, will be funded at their current levels in the interim.

With its work done, the Senate is headed home after being in session throughout the weekend and for the prior six weeks. They were already scheduled to be in recess this week for Veterans Day. Samantha Handler at Punchbowl News reports that four more appropriations bills including Defense and Commerce-Justice-Science, which includes NASA and NOAA, are being readied for debate when they return as another minibus.

New: Hoeven says before the Senate leaves, senators will tee up consideration of four spending bills: Defense, Labor-HHS, THUD and CJS.

— Samantha Handler (@sn_handler) November 10, 2025

While the Senate’s been working, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has kept the House out of session since September 19 when it passed the CR. He insisted he wouldn’t bring them back for legislative business until the Senate agreed to it. They’ve been meeting only in pro forma sessions.

Now House Members are on notice they need to return to Washington to vote as early as Wednesday. The exact schedule is in flux both because airline disruptions are making travel challenging and Johnson will need to ensure he has the votes to pass the bill.  There will be 219 Republicans and 214 Democrats when the vote takes place assuming Johnson promptly swears in new Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona. She was elected on September 23, but he has declined to administer the oath of office during one of the pro forma sessions even though he did that for two Republicans in April. Grijalva succeeds her father, Raúl, who passed away in March.

 

This article has been updated.