The Senate voted 60-40 on Nov. 10 to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, with a small group of Democrats joining Republicans to approve the funding package.
Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jackie Rosen of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and independent Angus King of Maine joined 52 Republicans to pass the measure. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. – as he has been in every other attempt to end the shutdown – was the lone Republican “no” vote.
The legislation combines three full-year spending bills with a short-term continuing resolution to fund the rest of the government through Jan. 30, 2026, MSNBC reported. It also reverses mass federal layoffs triggered during the shutdown and blocks further firings while the stopgap remains in effect.
According to MSNBC, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., secured Democratic support by agreeing to allow a vote on extending expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, though the measure is widely expected to fail.
In earlier shutdown votes, only Fetterman, Masto, and King had broken ranks with their Democratic caucus to support a Republican-backed “clean” continuing resolution, as CatholicVote previously reported.
The bill now moves to the House for approval before reaching President Donald Trump’s desk.
Earlier on Nov. 10, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called lawmakers to return to Washington “right now” in anticipation of a vote later this week. FOX News reported that Johnson anticipates a House vote as early as Nov. 12. If all House Democrats oppose the bill, Republicans can afford only two defections.
Trump signaled he would sign the package once it clears Congress and reaches his desk.
“We have support from enough Democrats, and we’re going to be opening up our country,” Trump told reporters at the White House ahead of the Senate vote.
The 40-day shutdown has strained federal operations, including grounding travel and halting paychecks for tens of thousands of workers. FlightAware reported more than 7,000 flight delays and 2,000 cancellations within, into, or out of the U.S. on Nov. 10, while about 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA agents have gone unpaid.
>> Transportation officials slash flights at 40 major airports as shutdown strains safety system <<
Trump wrote on Truth Social Nov. 10 that air traffic controllers should return to work immediately and promised $10,000 bonuses for those who stayed on duty during the shutdown.
In a separate development Nov. 10, the Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court to challenge lower court orders requiring full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments during the government shutdown.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the justices in a filing that the government plans to ask the high court to pause rulings that require the administration to maintain full SNAP payments. According to The Hill, the move followed a federal appeals court’s decision late Nov. 9 to reject the administration’s request to halt U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s order that directed the government to fund November SNAP payments by shifting roughly $4 billion from child nutrition funds.
On Nov. 3, the administration announced it would partially fund food stamp benefits and use its $4.65 billion in contingency funds.
In his filing ahead of the Senate vote, Sauer said the Senate’s pending deal to reopen the government “would end the shutdown and moot this application.”
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