Senate Democrats emerged from a two-and-a-half-hour caucus meeting Sunday night and announced there would be enough votes in the Senate to reopen the federal government after a grueling 40-day shutdown.
A group of centrist Democrats led by Sens. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) negotiated the government reopening deal with Republicans on the Senate (*40*) Committee, led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Senate GOP leadership.
Collins led negotiations on a minibus appropriations package to fund military construction, Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the Legislature, as well as a continuing resolution to fund the government through Jan. 30.
Shaheen, a member of the (*40*) Committee, worked with Collins on the funding bills.
King and Hassan played key roles in persuading Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to promise a vote this year to extend expanded health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which are set to expire at the end of the year.
King told reporters after the Democratic caucus that there will be enough votes to get the deal through the Senate and that Democrats supporting the bill feel the shutdown has gone on long enough.
Asked if he was confident there would be enough votes to pass the bill, King told reporters: “It certainly looks that way.”
The Senate will resume its session on Sunday at 8 p.m. and is expected to vote on ending the shutdown on Sunday evening.
King said “the length of the shutdown” convinced Democrats to support the deal, many elements of which had been on the negotiating table for weeks.
He said it was becoming increasingly clear that Republicans would not agree to a deal to reopen the government and extend increased health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which are set to expire in January.
King says there’s still a “chance” the subsidies will be renewed because as part of the deal, Thune promised to give Democrats a vote on the ACA subsidies in November.
“Part of the deal is a vote on the ACA subsidies,” he said.
He said he and other members of the Democratic caucus want to end the shutdown in the next few days because “a lot of people are getting hurt.”
The bill still needs to be passed by the House of Representatives, which has not had a vote since September 19. He then has to go to President Trump’s desk for his signature.
However, several Democrats emerged from the meeting who opposed the deal, including Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
“A wink and a nod to address this health crisis down the road — without actual guarantees — is simply not enough for me or the Wisconsin families I serve,” Baldwin said in a statement.
Updated at 9:13 p.m
