This Sunday, the fortieth day of the longest shutdown in US history, five Democrats broke their party’s unity in the Senate and went over to the other side. With their votes, and with those of the three senators who had sided with the Republicans since the beginning of the decade stopwhat in Washington jargon is called the block on public spending that repeatedly weighs on the Administration and which intervenes when the Capitol is unable to reach an agreement, the conservatives managed to add the 60 supports necessary to create a budget proposal with which to put an end to the crisis.
It’s been six weeks of dog-eat-dog game, during which both sides tried to blame each other for the paralysis. The decision of those eight senators to switch to the Democratic side is a triumph for the Republicans, who have barely moved from their initial position.
A new crisis is also opening up in the rival party, just a week after the sensational electoral victories of November 4th in New York, New Jersey and Virginia. The support of the voters then seemed to reward the refusal to reach an agreement with the rivals to reopen the tap of the Administration until certain commitments had been reached by the opponents which in the end were not kept.
What agreement was reached?
Senate Republicans presented a document on Sunday with which they managed to convince their five rivals who were trying to reach the qualified majority required by the filibuster. They agreed to reopen the tap of the Federal Administration until the end of January, the funding of food stamps on which 42 million people depend during the 2026 fiscal year and the commitment that the Trump administration will reinstate the officials fired in these weeks, will retroactively pay the salaries not received by those who have kept their jobs and will not fire any more federal employees in the next two and a half months. Three budget bills covering veterans, the Department of Agriculture and legislative agencies will also be signed.
The pact also includes a commitment to vote in the Senate on the extension of Obamacare subsidies (the name given to the Affordable Care Act by the president who promoted it). Dissidents have tried to pass it off as good news, even though it seems clear that it will be of little use.
Neither the Republicans, nor Trump, who has been attacking this rule for days, seem willing to be convinced on this point by their rivals; much less transform this aid into law. Democrats who opposed it argue that this vote will at least serve to highlight Trump and his voters in one of the main concerns of Americans.
What’s left out?
What has been a red line for Democrats from the start: Obamacare credits approved during the pandemic that will stop being paid at the end of this year. This will result in increased health insurance premiums for millions of Americans.
How were the votes in the Senate?
The upper house has 100 seats in the United States, two per state. In the 2024 elections, Republicans won 53, compared to Democrats 47. There is a conservative senator −Rand Paul, of Kentucky−, who has sided with his rivals since the beginning of the crisis. On Monday night, Paul did it again with a clean pass: 60 if it is against 40 it isn’t.
And now?
The House of Representatives, in recess since September, must vote before work begins stopby order (and political calculation) of its president, Mike Johnson. Johnson announced at a news conference on Monday that he had ordered all members of Congress who were outside the capital to return to Washington. They have 36 hours to do so. The House of Representatives, where Republicans have a slim but sufficient majority, had already ruled in favor of funding the government before its shutdown. He will do it again.
Subsequently the proposal must be signed by the president of the United States, Donald Trump. No one in Washington can bet on a date by which the trial will be completed, although it is expected to happen by the end of this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday.
Which senators gave in?
There are eight in total, seven Democrats and one independent. There are three who have never voted with their own since October 1st, the first day of the government shutdown. They are John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Catherine Cortez Maso (Nevada) and independent Angus King (Maine).
Among those who switched sides Sunday were New Hampshire’s two senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine (Virginia), Dick Durbin (Illinois) and Jacky Rosen (Nevada).
Everyone had their reasons. Kaine, for example, used the excuse that in his state, due to its proximity to Washington, there are approximately 300,000 public employees, who have been suspended from work and pay, or, because they are considered “essential”, have had to go to work, but without pay. The two from Nevada have felt the pressure of the tourism sector in Las Vegas and the rest of the state, hit by air traffic problems and flight cancellations, as well as the closure or abandonment of natural parks.
Durbin, who is not running for re-election in the next election, scheduled for November 2026, said in a statement: “This bill is not perfect, but it requires important steps to reduce the harm of stop“He is the whip (whip) Democrat in the upper house and, therefore, the only dissident who is part of the party leadership in the Senate.
When will normality return to airports?
It is not possible to know until it is clear when the Government will reopen. Yes, it is true that when they end, the domino effect of cancellations and delays will be felt for several days. One of the worst effects of the government shutdown has been on airport screeners and security workers, who are essential workers. They were suspended from pay, but not from work: they had to go to work, but without pay.
With many taking leave or requesting retirement, the United States Air Authority’s (FAA) decision to cancel hundreds of flights at 40 major U.S. airports to address air saturation went into effect last Friday. After a chaotic weekend, 2,306 canceled flights were recorded this Monday, according to the FlightAware website. About 8,300 were delayed.
And the meal voucher system?
Once again, it depends on when the reopening process that began with the defection of Democratic senators last Sunday ends. The Trump administration has done everything it can to suspend SNAP, the food stamp system. Two judges prevented him from doing so, but last Friday the Supreme Court partially agreed with him. The Government has asked the States to recover the money that has arrived in recent days to the 42 million beneficiaries of this program. This tug of war has created a precedent-setting situation as well as chaos in a system vital to one in eight of the country’s citizens.
But what about the rest?
Him stop It has caused the paralysis of dozens of federal agencies and the closure or abandonment of museums, monuments and natural parks. It also brought thousands of workers to food banks. The return to normality in all cases is close, but it is not yet possible to predict a precise date.
What will this government shutdown be remembered for?
Because he broke a historical record. Last Tuesday became the longest in US history, surpassing the last one, which lasted 35 days: it began on December 22, 2018 and ended on January 25 of the following year. Then the discrepancy was due to the Democratic refusal to finance the construction of Trump’s wall on the border with Mexico. THE shutdowns Clinton, in 1995 (21 days), and Obama, in 2013 (16), occupy third and fourth place.
The government has been forced to shut down 22 times in the last 50 years. What is about to end is the third time this has happened with Trump in the White House.
