House passes bill to end record shutdown with 222-209 vote

By Kevin Freking Joey Cappeletti and Matt Brown Associated Press WASHINGTON The House passed a bill Wednesday to end the nation s longest cabinet shutdown sending the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature after a historic -day funding lapse that saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks travelers stranded at airports and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families House lawmakers made their long-awaited return to the nation s capital this week after nearly eight weeks away with Republicans using their slight majority to get the bill over the finish line by a vote of - The Senate has already passed the measure Trump has called the bill a very big triumph Democrats needed to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of wellbeing coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority But Republicans explained that was a separate guidelines fight to be held at another time They eventually prevailed but only after the shutdown took an increasing toll on the country We advised you days ago from bitter experience that governing body shutdowns don t work noted Rep Tom Cole the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee They never achieve the objective that you announce And guess what You haven t achieved that objective yet and you re not going to The shutdown magnified the stark partisan divisions within Congress and that split screen was reflected when lawmakers debated the measure on the House floor Republicans declared Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a framework dispute Stop imposing the suffering House Majority Leader Steve Scalise R-La declared Let s open the regime Let s get back to the work of the American people Democrats revealed Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy but the bill before the House Wednesday leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their robustness care stated Rep Jim McGovern D-Mass Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries declared Democrats would not give up even if the vote did not go their way This fight is not over Jeffries announced We re just getting started The House had not been in legislative session since Sept when it passed a short-term measure to keep the ruling body open when the new budget year began in October House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act saying House Republicans had done their job Johnson reported the Democratic opposition to the spending bill was pointless adding it was wrong it was cruel They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway Johnson disclosed The compromise to end the shutdown The ordinance included buy-in from eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a regime funding to bill to extend the wellbeing care tax credits Meanwhile the shutdown s toll was growing by the day The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of regime funding through Jan Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the healthcare care subsidies but there is no guarantee of success We had reached a point where I think a number of us maintained that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about wellness care announced Sen Jeanne Shaheen D-N H The promise for a future vote gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward The rule includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year The package includes million to boost prevention for lawmakers and an additional million for the safeguard of Supreme Court justices Democrats are also seizing on language that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them allowing for up to in feasible damages for each violation Democrats called for removal of the provision The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an inquiry into Trump s efforts to overturn his voting process loss to Democrat Joe Biden The provisions drew criticism from Republicans as well Rep Austin Scott R-Ga explained he s already introduced repeal rule that he hoped would be voted on swiftly The biggest point of contention though was the fate of the expiring enhanced tax credit that makes robustness insurance more affordable through Affordable Care Act marketplaces It s a subsidy on top of a subsidy Our friends added it during COVID Cole noted COVID is over They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out They chose the date Rep Nancy Pelosi D-Calif explained the enhanced tax credit was designed to give more people access to medical care but no Republicans voted for it All they have done is try to eliminate access to medical care in our country The country is catching on to them Pelosi explained Majority Democrats call the passage of the spending bill this week a mistake Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the authorities open reported the bill fails to do anything of substance to fix America s healthcare problem Without the enhanced tax credit premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans More than million people would lose vitality insurance coverage altogether next year the Congressional Budget Office projected Independent Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats mentioned giving up the fight was a horrific mistake Sen Chris Murphy D-Conn agreed saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week s elections were urging them to hold firm Fitness care debate ahead It s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on fitness care before the December vote in the Senate Johnson has explained he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber Certain Republicans have explained they are open to extending the COVID- pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies Specific argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies Sen Susan Collins R-Maine chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee reported Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes such as new income caps Chosen Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough Rep Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee disclosed Republicans have yearned to repeal the wellbeing overall for the past years That s where they re trying to go she stated Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this summary