Congress moves toward ending budget paralysis

(Washington) The US Senate on Monday adopted a text which, once approved by the House of Representatives, would lift the budgetary paralysis after more than 40 days of shutdownbut which is a source of dissension in the Democratic camp.

The bill adopted by 60 votes for and 40 against extends the current budget until the end of January. The text must now be debated and adopted from Wednesday in the House of Representatives, before landing on Donald Trump’s desk for promulgation which would officially end the paralysis of part of the federal state.

“Feed everyone. Pay our military, our civil servants and the Capitol Police. End the chaos at airports. Country before party,” Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who voted in favor of the Republican measure, proclaimed Monday on X.

The leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, John Thune, wrote on the same social network that he was happy to support “the path to the end of this shutdown unnecessary, in a responsible manner that allows civil servants to be paid quickly and the federal government to reopen.”

Before the vote, the American president was delighted to have obtained enough Democratic votes in the Senate to break the deadlock.

“It’s a shame that it was closed, but we will reopen our country very quickly,” Donald Trump told the press at the White House.

The Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, also expressed his optimism on Monday regarding an end to the paralysis “this week”. “Our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end,” he said at a press conference.

Since 1^er 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.

“Prolonged suffering”

At the heart of the dispute between Republicans and Democrats for more than 40 days: the question of health costs.

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. In total, eight Democrats ultimately voted for a new text.

“Weeks of negotiations with the Republicans have made it clear that they will not discuss health issues” to end the paralysis, one of them, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, assured in a press release.

“Waiting any longer will only prolong the suffering Americans feel from the shutdown “, she added.

Most known as centrists, these eight elected opposition officials obtained the cancellation of the dismissal of thousands of federal civil servants by the Trump administration since the start of the paralysis.

“Not in good faith”

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, Mike Johnson, refused to commit to providing the same vote in the lower house.

Many elected officials and Democratic supporters are now calling 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.