The Senate approved a continuing resolution late Monday to end the 40-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, handing Democrats a stinging defeat and igniting an internal party revolt against Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The measure passed 60-40 after senators agreed to expedite procedures that could have delayed action for days.
No Democrats objected to the unanimous consent agreement, despite earlier condemnations of colleagues who negotiated the deal.
The resolution funds the government through Jan. 30, 2026, incorporates three full-year appropriations bills, guarantees back pay and rehiring for affected federal workers, and bars future reductions in force until that date.
It does not extend enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies set to expire Dec. 31, though Republicans promised a vote on a Democratic proposal.
"As I have said for weeks to my Democrat friends, I will schedule a vote on their proposal, and I have committed to having that vote no later than the second week in December," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on the floor.The bill heads to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., recalled members for a likely Wednesday vote.
House Democratic leaders pledged to whip against it, but some members, including retiring Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, are expected to support the measure.
Schumer, who voted against the deal, faced immediate backlash from progressives who blamed his leadership for the collapse.
"People want new Senate leadership more than they want a new senator," said Graham Platner, a Democrat challenging Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in 2026.Rep.
Ro Khanna, D-Calif., called Schumer "no longer effective," asking, "if you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?"
Schumer defended the shutdown as a strategic victory.
"Republicans now own this health care crisis. They knew it was coming," he said on the floor. "We wanted to fix it. Republicans said no. And now it’s on them."
Moderate Democrats rallied behind Schumer.
"He has a tough job," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. "The Republicans forced an impossible false choice between affordable health care and reopening the government."
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., praised Schumer’s openness.
"It’s understandable. He’s the leader, and it goes with the territory," Welch said. "But I would be hopeful that we’d focus on our adversary, and that’s [President Trump]."
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., one of eight Democrats who voted yes, said Schumer gave "neither a blessing or a curse" to the dealmakers.
"I think Chuck handled this well. It was a hard assignment," Durbin said.
The infighting exposes a fractured Democratic Party: radicals baying for Schumer’s scalp while moderates circle wagons, all as Obamacare enrollees brace for premium shocks and voters remember who blinked first in this 40-day farce.
The civil war rages on—midterms will decide the casualties.
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