Bipartisan Breakthrough: Senate Deal Ends 40-Day Government Shutdown Amid Democratic Rifts

By Elena Vasquez, Political Correspondent Washington, D.C. – November 9, 2025

In a rare Sunday night session that stretched into the early hours of Monday, the U.S. Senate cleared a pivotal procedural hurdle, advancing a bipartisan agreement to end the longest government shutdown in American history after 40 agonizing days. The deal, brokered by a coalition of moderate Democrats and Republicans, funds the government through January 30, 2026, while incorporating full-year appropriations for key agencies and safeguards for federal workers battered by the impasse. Yet, the compromise exposes deepening fractures within the Democratic caucus, with progressives decrying it as a capitulation to President Donald Trump’s hardline agenda on health care reforms.

The agreement, first reported by Politico, was negotiated in part by Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), alongside GOP counterparts including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). Sources granted anonymity to disclose the terms described it as having “more than enough” support from the Senate Democratic Caucus to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold. “You have a split in the Democratic caucus… There’s a lot of division there. There are some Democrats who are going to come out and support this test vote. The others are going to rage at them,” one insider told Politico, capturing the raw tensions that nearly derailed the talks.

Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram, reporting from the Capitol, confirmed the test vote—aimed at advancing a House-passed continuing resolution for amendments—would occur “sometime after 8 o’clock EST here in the Senate.” By midnight, the chamber had invoked cloture on the measure, with at least eight Democrats defecting to join Republicans in a 62-38 tally, according to preliminary counts. Final passage in the Senate could follow as early as Tuesday, pending debate, before heading to the House—where Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) faces his own conservative skeptics—and Trump’s desk for signature.

At its core, the package fuses short-term relief with targeted investments. It includes three full-year appropriations bills for military construction and veterans affairs, the legislative branch, and the Department of Agriculture—totaling billions in stable funding. A standout provision allocates $203.5 million for enhanced congressional security and $852 million for the U.S. Capitol Police, fortifying defenses in the wake of January 6, 2021. Critically, it guarantees full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through fiscal year 2026, staving off a court-blocked Trump administration pause that threatened meals for 42 million low-income Americans.

Worker protections form another pillar. The deal mandates reinstatement of thousands of federal employees dismissed during the shutdown—part of Trump’s aggressive “reductions in force”—and bars future arbitrary firings, addressing Democratic outcries over purges that hit agencies like the IRS and EPA hardest. Backpay for all affected workers, including 800,000 “essential” personnel who labored without compensation, is assured, though distribution could lag weeks. “This ends the nightmare for families scraping by on credit cards and food pantry lines,” said Sen. Hassan in a post-vote statement, her voice hoarse from hours of closed-door haggling.

The elephant in the room remains Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, pandemic-era tax credits set to expire December 31 and potentially doubling premiums for 21 million enrollees. Democrats’ initial demand for a one-year extension—floated by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) last Friday—met GOP stonewalling, with Trump insisting subsidies morph into Health Savings Accounts funneled directly to consumers. The compromise cedes ground: Thune pledges a standalone mid-December vote on an extension bill of Democrats’ choosing, but no outcome guarantee. “It’s a promise, not a provision,” lamented Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member of the Finance Committee, who oversees ACA implementation.

This concession ignited the caucus inferno. Progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) branded the deal a “wasteful gesture,” arguing it squanders leverage without House or White House buy-in. “We’ve got the American people behind us—why fold now?” Sanders thundered on the floor, his words echoing off marble columns as colleagues averted eyes. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) amplified the fury, vowing to “fight the GOP bill” and labeling it a “Republican taxpayer-funded vacation.” Johnson, meanwhile, has rebuffed parallel House votes on ACA extensions, deepening distrust.

The shutdown’s scars run deep, eclipsing even the 2018-19 record of 35 days. Furloughs idled 2.1 million civilians; air travel ground to a halt with 2,000 daily cancellations and 7,000 delays last Sunday alone. National parks shuttered, IRS refunds froze—hitting $1.5 billion in queued payouts—and food banks surged 30% in demand. Economists peg the tab at $18 billion, with a 0.5% Q4 GDP shave looming. Smithsonian curator Maria Lopez, furloughed since October 1, borrowed against her 401(k) to cover rent. “We’ve rationed groceries, skipped doctors. This isn’t governance—it’s cruelty,” she told reporters outside the Russell Senate Office Building.

Republicans spun the vote as vindication. Thune, sleeves rolled up after 16-hour days, credited Trump’s “stay in town until they have a Deal” Truth Social missive. “We’ve protected priorities without caving—fiscal restraint meets real relief,” he said, though hardliners grumbled over the December vote olive branch. Trump, spotted at a Sunday night football game, exuded optimism sans specifics, prioritizing midterm optics over prolonged chaos.

For the moderates who bridged the divide, exhaustion mingled with resolve. “The length of this shutdown changed the calculus—the pain on Americans was unbearable,” King told NBC News post-vote, his Maine accent thick with fatigue. Shaheen echoed: “We’re buying time for the ACA fight, not abandoning it.” Yet, with January’s next cliff approaching, skeptics warn of déjà vu. Polls show Democrats gaining suburban ground from the fiasco, potentially flipping House seats in 2026.

As dawn broke over the Capitol dome, staffers shuffled out with coffee-stained ties, the chamber’s lights flickering off. Relief washed over federal workers from coast to coast, but the truce feels tenuous—a bandage on a polarized body politic. Schumer, ever the strategist, framed it as “tactical retreat for regrouping.” In Washington’s endless trench warfare, today’s accord is tomorrow’s ammunition. For now, though, the government breathes again.