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The US Senate took the first step to end the longest US government shutdown in history on Sunday night, after a group of Democratic lawmakers crossed party lines and endorsed a compromise plan to reopen the government.
Eight Democrats voted with all but one Republican senator in a procedural vote to advance a deal that was negotiated behind closed doors by rank-and-file Democrats, Republican senators and the White House. The final vote was 60-40 in favour of advancing the agreement.
The deal will need to be debated and passed by the Senate. It also must be signed off by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before the shutdown can end.
But US President Donald Trump appeared confident late on Sunday, the 40th day of the shutdown. “It looks like we are getting close to the shutdown ending. You’ll know very soon,” he told reporters.
Sunday’s Senate vote was a breakthrough in a shutdown that has dragged on for nearly six weeks, rattling the federal workforce, bringing many public services to a halt and jeopardising welfare benefits for tens of millions of Americans.
However the vote exposed deep divisions among Democrats as many lawmakers accused fellow party members of caving in to Republican demands.
“Trump’s authoritarian tyranny is dismantling our democracy before our eyes,” Oregon Democratic senator Jeff Merkley said in a statement. “The only way to stop him is to stand up to him.”
A deal would reopen the federal government and keep it funded until the end of January. It would also reverse the lay-offs initiated by the White House during the shutdown, and guarantee that furloughed workers receive back pay.
The agreement included a concession by Democrats on healthcare tax credits, which are due to expire at the end of the year and which the Democratic party has insisted should be extended. Trump on Saturday poured cold water on the idea of an extension.
The deal struck on Sunday gives no guarantees on the future of the tax credits but only offers an assurance that a vote will be held on the issue no later than mid-December.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, voted against the deal on Sunday. Hakeem Jeffries, his counterpart in the House, said he would also oppose it.
“We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives,” Jeffries said in a statement. “As a result of the Republican refusal to address the healthcare crisis that they have created, tens of millions of everyday Americans are going to see their costs skyrocket.”
Sunday’s vote came after top Trump administration officials warned that US air travel would slow to a “trickle” and US economic growth could turn negative if the stalemate continued for much longer.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the economic impact of the shutdown would only get “worse and worse”.
The US government shut down on October 1, after Republican and Democratic lawmakers failed to agree on a plan to fund the government for the new federal fiscal year.
The stalemate has hit tens of millions of Americans in recent days, piling political pressure on Republicans and Democrats alike.
Funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Snap, lapsed on November 1 for the first time in more than 60 years, affecting more than 40mn poorer Americans who rely on the benefits.
And on Friday the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates air travel in the US, ordered airlines to begin reducing flight numbers. More than 2,700 flights were cancelled in the US on Sunday, according to FlightAware, the flight tracking website, while more than 10,000 flights were delayed.
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