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WASHINGTON—By a 60-40 vote, the bare minimum required, the Senate took the first step Republicans have been demanding in order to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Seven Democrats, plus Independent Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the Dems, joined 52 of the 53 Senate Republicans on a vote to limit debate on a temporary money bill to keep the government going through Jan. 30.
The Democrats who caved were Dick Durbin of Illinois, who also serves as the Democratic whip; John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has continuously sided with Republicans on previous shutdown votes; Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has 150,000 federal workers in his district; Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both of Nevada; and Jeane Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
The vote ends the effort by Democratic Senators to prevent a vote until Republicans agree to extend Obamacare subsidies, without which millions will lose health care. The rollcall on Nov. 9 cleared the way for two separate future votes: One on the MAGA money bill, called a continuing resolution (CR), possibly by Nov. 14, and the other, supposedly sometime in December, on a one-year extension of a federal tax credit for millions of people who get health insurance via the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare…READ MORE
