After its approval in the Senate, the bill still requires approval from the House of Representatives and the president's signature before the government shutdown deadlock can be fully resolved. This package covers only three of the 12 annual appropriation bills that Congress must pass each year, leaving nine unfinished, according to the extensive report by the Xinhua news agency. While the temporary funding measure is in place, both parties will continue to negotiate the remaining appropriations, which means the U.S. government could face another possible shutdown in a little over two months. The U.S. Senate approved a bipartisan budget package aimed at ending the longest government shutdown in its history, which reached its 41st day and caused growing consequences for Americans. This comes after the upper chamber voted 60-40 in a key procedural vote on Sunday night to advance the package, and a total of eight Democrats joined Republicans to push the measure forward. The Senate approved the package that will fund most federal agencies at current levels until January 30 and will cover for the entire fiscal year the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction projects, and Congressional operations. The package will provide full annual funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, whose budget had been threatened during the prolonged government shutdown. Democrats' Agreements As part of the Democrats' agreement to end the shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised them a vote "no later than the second week of December" to expand subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Some Democrats objected, arguing that the agreement only promises a vote and does not guarantee the continuation of the subsidy, which expires at the end of the year. Protecting healthcare benefits remains the main demand of Democrats in the current shutdown standoff. Schumer and Sanders' Positions Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York was one of those who voted against the package. Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who aligns with Democrats, called the agreement a "disaster," stating that Democrats got almost nothing in return except for a symbolic vote on health insurance subsidies. U.S. media widely claimed that the eight Democrats "caved," but lawmakers maintained that their compromise with Republicans was mainly because the government shutdown had already caused too much suffering to the American people. The bill was revised from the version previously approved by the House of Representatives.
