Senate Democrats are poised to help Republicans pass a bill that could lead to the end of the government shutdown. But the deal they’re agreeing to doesn’t directly address what was once Democrats’ key demand: an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are due to expire by year’s end.
The Senate took a major step to that end on Sunday night, when eight Democrats in the narrowly divided chamber voted for a procedural motion that paves the way for approval of a negotiated funding bill.
Those eight Democrats, who broke with party leadership, were just enough for the measure to hit the 60-vote threshold required to overcome the filibuster. That rule has prevented Republicans, who hold a slim majority in the Senate, from reopening the government on their own.
The procedural vote’s passage broke a nearly six-week logjam in which most Senate Democrats repeatedly shot down a Republican-backed bill that would temporarily resume government funding at current levels.
Democrats had demanded that any funding bill must include significant additional spending on health care protections and other key measures.
