House

Congress clears bill to end shutdown

by Cristina Marcos - 01/22/18 6:11 PM ET

The House cleared legislation Monday to end the three-day government shutdown, and the measure was later signed by President Trump.

Lawmakers voted 266-150 to reopen the federal government and extend funding through Feb. 8, as well as provide money for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years. Six Republicans voted “no,” while 45 Democrats voted “yes” to pass the bill.

Trump signed the bill just before 9 p.m.

A government shutdown went into effect early Saturday morning after most Senate Democrats and a handful of Republicans blocked a House-passed temporary spending bill that would have lasted through Feb. 16.

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Democrats had pledged not to vote for a spending measure unless lawmakers had an agreement on how to ensure protections for young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, known as “Dreamers.”

The House and Senate held emergency sessions over the weekend to break the impasse, but a final resolution didn’t emerge until Monday morning.

By that time, hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed or working without pay. But the short length of the shutdown, as well as the fact that most of its duration occurred over a weekend, means that its effects will be relatively limited compared to a 16-day shutdown in 2013.

Critical government functions were put on hold during the shutdown, even though the Trump administration sought to minimize the effects compared to 2013.

Americans could still visit national parks, unlike in 2013. But many National Park Service staffers were furloughed, which halted services like trash removal and restroom cleaning.

Members of the military continued working during the shutdown but without pay.

A measure attached to the bill to reopen the government ensures that federal workers get back pay they would otherwise have lost during the shutdown.

Senate Democrats agreed to end the impasse after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged to take up an immigration bill next month. There’s no guarantee any bill that passes in the Senate will get a vote in the House, however.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said McConnell has committed to consider legislation to protect Dreamers if negotiators don’t reach an immigration deal before Feb. 8.

“Now there is a real pathway to get a bill on the floor and through the Senate. It is a good solution, and I will vote for it,” Schumer said.

Trump and GOP leaders in Congress stood firm in refusing to negotiate on immigration until the government reopened.

Trump met with a group of GOP senators Monday once a deal to reopen the government emerged, as well as centrist Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Doug Jones (Ala.).

“Once the government is funded, my administration will work toward solving the problem of very unfair illegal immigration. We will make a long-term deal on immigration if, and only if, it is good for our country,” Trump said in a statement.

The legislation approved Monday is the fourth stopgap measure to keep the government funded since September. Leaders in both parties are still working on a budget deal to establish spending levels for fiscal 2018, as well as aid for regions affected by recent natural disasters.

House Democratic leaders did not whip their members to oppose the bill, but they voted against it.

“I refuse to be an enabler to the Republicans’ failures any longer,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Lawmakers are trying to reach a compromise to replace the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that granted temporary work permits for qualifying young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

The Trump administration is phasing out the DACA program, putting its roughly 700,000 recipients at risk of deportation.

Liberals and immigration activists expressed outrage that the deal fell short of Democrats’ demands that Republicans needed to at least agree on the contours of an immigration deal.

“I do not see how a vague promise from the Senate Majority Leader about a vague policy to be voted on in the future helps the Dreamers or maximizes leverage the Democrats and American people have over the Republicans right now,” said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.).

“This shows me that when it comes to immigrants, Latinos and their families, Democrats are still not willing to go to the mat to allow people in my community to live in our country legally,” he concluded.

Other Democrats were more willing to vote to end the shutdown.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who represents a Northern Virginia district with thousands of federal workers, said McConnell’s “concession to our demands for action is a big victory for the Democrats and the American people.”

The provision in the bill extending CHIP has bipartisan support, despite the partisan fighting that led to the shutdown.

The authorization for CHIP expired at the end of September and lawmakers struggled for months to reach an agreement on its funding. States stood at risk of running out of funds for low-income children’s health care if Congress didn’t enact a patch by February.

Bipartisan talks are also expected to resume on pairing protections for Dreamers with enhanced border security measures.

Both sides remain far apart on key issues like family reunification or chain migration, temporary protected status for people from struggling countries and whether the Dreamers would be eligible for citizenship or some other form of legal status.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had been in talks with the other second-ranking leaders in both chambers: House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), along with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas).

McCarthy wouldn’t commit on Monday to bringing up any immigration bill passed in the Senate. He suggested that the House and Senate could each pass their own versions and work out a bicameral compromise in a conference committee, in a process similar to the GOP’s tax overhaul.

“We’re two different houses, so we’ll both do our own work,” McCarthy said. “I don’t see anything wrong with the Senate passing a bill, the House passing a bill and going to conference. That worked with tax. It could work with other items.”

—Updated at 9:04 p.m.