Senate Inches Toward Government Reopening Deal

The Senate is making slow progress towards ending the government shutdown. Senator John Thune, a key Republican from South Dakota, hinted that a spending agreement might be close. He mentioned a possible vote on Sunday evening, but it's still unclear if Democrats will support it. Democrats have been divided on how to move forward. They were planning to meet later on Sunday to discuss their next steps. This comes after days of talks among a group of moderate senators from both parties. They've been trying to find a way to reopen the government, which has been shut down for 40 days. Republicans, who have a majority in the Senate, have been trying to get enough Democrats to support a temporary spending bill. So far, they've only gained the support of three Democrats, which isn't enough to pass the 60-vote threshold needed. Thune's comments suggest that Republicans might be close to convincing more Democrats to join them. This is surprising, especially since Republicans haven't agreed to Democrats' main demand: extending health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Senators from both parties have been working on a spending package. This package includes a short-term funding measure to keep the government running through January. It also includes three separate bills for agriculture, military construction, and legislative agencies for most of 2026. There are signs of progress. The Senate Appropriations Committee released the three spending bills on Sunday. These bills reject most of the deep spending cuts proposed by President Trump earlier this year. For example, Trump's proposal would have cut the Food for Peace program. This program sends American crops to areas suffering from famine. The Senate bills would provide $1. 2 billion for this program, which many Republicans from farm states support. Senate negotiators also rejected a proposal from House Republicans. This proposal would have cut funding for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in half. The GAO is an agency that helps Congress track federal spending. It has sued the Trump administration twice this year for violating spending rules. Instead, Senate appropriators proposed keeping the GAO's funding the same. They also removed a provision that would have barred the agency from suing the White House in the future. Democrats have been demanding that Republicans agree to extend health insurance subsidies. They wanted this in exchange for their votes to fund the government. Republicans refused to meet this demand. On Friday, Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, scaled back this demand. He said Democrats would vote to reopen the government if the legislation included a one-year extension of the health tax credits. Republicans immediately rejected this proposal, calling it a non-starter.