(Washington) After more than 40 days of “shutdown”, a record, the United States on Monday foresees an imminent end to the budgetary paralysis after an agreement reached in the Senate between the Republican majority and a few moderate Democrats, who are already facing the wrath of their own camp.
The adoption by the Senate of the new budgetary text is expected late Monday or even overnight. The bill will then travel to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote on it possibly as soon as Wednesday. Once adopted by both houses of Congress, the text will land on Donald Trump’s desk for promulgation which will put an end to the budgetary paralysis.
“It looks like we’re approaching the end of the ‘shutdown’,” Donald Trump said on Sunday, upon his return from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Since 1er October and the start of the blockade, more than a million civil servants are not paid, the payment of certain aid is severely disrupted, as is air traffic, with now hundreds of flight cancellations every day.
At the heart of the dispute between Republicans and Democrats for more than 40 days: the question of health costs.
“Suffering”
Donald Trump’s party, which has a majority in Congress, proposed a simple extension of the current budget, while the opposition demanded an extension of subsidies for the “Obamacare” health insurance program, aimed mainly at low-income households.
These subsidies are due to expire at the end of the year, and health insurance costs are expected to more than double in 2026 for 24 million Americans who use Obamacare, according to KFF, a think tank specializing in health issues.
Due to the rules in force in the Senate, several Democratic votes were necessary to adopt a budget even if the Republicans have the majority.
Until Sunday, only three opposition senators had voted for the Republican text. But after an agreement made behind the scenes, five others finally voted for a new text, suggesting an imminent end to the blockage.
“Weeks of negotiations with the Republicans have made it clear that they will not discuss health issues as part of the negotiations to end the “shutdown”,” one of them, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, assured in a statement.
PHOTO NATHAN HOWARD, REUTERS ARCHIVES
New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen
“Waiting any longer will only prolong the suffering Americans are feeling because of the shutdown,” she added.
Most known as centrists, these eight opposition elected officials obtained the cancellation of the dismissal of thousands of federal civil servants by the Trump administration since the start of the “shutdown”.
Empty promise
On the other hand, they left almost empty-handed on health issues, not extracting an extension of subsidies in the final text, but only a promise from the Republican leader of the Senate regarding the holding of an upcoming vote on this issue.
An empty promise, denounced many elected Democrats, because the leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, refused to commit to holding the same vote in the lower house.
For Senator Bernie Sanders, a figure of the American left, giving in as his colleagues did “will only make a horrible situation worse” for the millions of Americans who depend on “Obamacare” for their health coverage.
PHOTO J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom summed up his one-word opinion of X: “Pathetic.”
Others called for heads to roll.
The first targeted: Chuck Schumer, leader of the minority in the Senate. If he voted no on Sunday evening, he is suspected by many elected officials and Democratic supporters of having pushed behind the scenes for these moderate elected officials to reach an agreement with the Republicans.
“If Chuck Schumer was an effective leader, he would have united his group to vote “No” tonight and stand firm on health care,” said Seth Moulton, current elected to the House.
