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by MARK POWELL
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The Democratic filibuster that kept the U.S. Senate largely bottlenecked on the biggest issue facing the country at the moment abruptly concluded with a rare Sunday night vote on a key procedural issue. It’s the first step toward ending the record-setting, nearly six-week partial federal government shutdown.
The legislation agreed to Sunday night would reopen the government through January 2026, pairing a short-term spending measure with three full-year appropriations bills, including funding for veterans programs, agriculture, and Congress’ operations.
The package of bills is part of a plan to end the shutdown. Under the strategy, the chamber would vote on advancing the House-passed continuing resolution before amending it to include the full-year funding measures, as well as a longer extension of government funding. The plan also includes an agreement to vote on a pre-determined date on an extension of health insurance tax credits that Democrats have sought.
Many Democrats had rejected more than one dozen previous votes to pass a so-called “clean CR” (continuing resolution), which they repeatedly did during the administration of Joe Biden. This time around, they had demanded tacking on an extension of tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare), which are set to expire next month, among other conditions. Although Republicans hold a slim majority in the upper chamber, Senate rules require 60 votes to override a filibuster. And so funding was stymied, millions of non-essential workers were sent home, and federal services were interrupted.
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Even though the two sides have been quietly talking behind the scenes ever since the government’s authority to borrow money ran out at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2025, negotiations kicked into overdrive once last week’s off-year elections were finished.
Word of a tentative deal began emerging Sunday afternoon. As of press time, specific details hadn’t been announced, but it was widely reported that the agreement included Democrats providing votes to end the filibuster in exchange for a vote on the Obamacare subsidy extension would be held in December. That led Republicans to gloat, “Democrats caved!” while Democrats declared victory, saying, “we brought public attention to this issue and forced the GOP to let us vote on it.”
So, the longest government shutdown in history could finally be over soon, right?
Maybe, maybe not. Because nothing in Washington is ever as straightforward as it first appears.
First, the Senate must pass the spending bills mentioned earlier. Once the government’s authorization to resume borrowing money returns, federal workers can go back to work.
But… it’s not that simple. If the Senate version differs from the clean CR passed by the House of Representatives, the measure would be sent back to the House for another vote.
And here’s where the plot thickens…
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RELATED | GOP REELING AFTER DEMOCRAT ROMP
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The House’s last full day of work was September 18, 2025 – and most members have been back home ever since (although speaker Mike Johnson has admonished them to remain on standby to return to Capitol Hill with 48 hours’ notice.) When it does reconvene, how will it react to the Senate’s additions?
Additionally, a potentially serious fissure could erupt within the Democratic ranks. Progressives have been emboldened ever since their clean sweep of almost all significant elections last Tuesday. The party’s Left flank (including Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, among others) had insisted the Democratic caucus resist anything short of a full Republican acquiescence on the Obamacare subsidies extension. A trio of Center-Left Senate Democrats (New Englanders Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan, and Angus King) led a push to accept half a loaf—a later standalone vote on continuing the subsidies—rather than the all-or-nothing stand the Progressives advocate. They were joined by fellow Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, Jacky Rosen and John Fetterman. Together, they provided the eight votes necessary to break the legislative logjam.
It’s worth noting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer remained a hard no. He is closely allied with fellow New York and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Reaction was split not only along party lines but also along ideological fault lines within both camps.
“They were eyeball-to-eyeball and the Democrats blinked,” a national GOP strategist in Washington told us late Sunday night. “Schumer’s divided party caved. They’re walking away with nothing more than a pledge to hold a vote next month—with no guarantee of how that vote will turn out. If that’s not a win for Republicans, what is?”
Speaking on behalf of many congressional Democrats, Jefferies threw down the gauntlet in a bluntly succinct statement.
“We will not support spending legislation advanced by Senate Republicans that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” he said.
So, it seems an exit ramp has finally been opened, leading away from the increasingly painful and divisive government shutdown. The question now becomes, will enough senators and congressmen be willing to take it?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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3 comments
LOL OK gramps it is all the Democrats fault! Keep believing that nonsense.
Those health care premiums are going up and that big beautiful raise will be owned by the MAGA movement. And the first installment will be paid in the 2036 mid terms no matter how you redistrict cheat and change the rules.
I don’t know what I would have done had I been in the position of these Legislators. I think Democrats did not believe that Republicans would allow children and the elderly to starve and government employees, including our military, to go without pay over Thanksgiving and Christmas, all to make health care more expensive for tens of millions of Americans.
But with every multimillion-dollar immoral party they threw, with every tour of their gaudy gold gilded oval office, with every showing of plans for their tacky gilded age ballroom, with every multimillion-dollar golf outing, with every criminal billionaire pardon, with the 40 billion dollar bail out of Argentina, with their refusal to use emergency funds to feed people, and with every other indefensible disgusting act; it became obvious that Republicans just don’ give a shit about average middle class Americans. It became obvious that, yes they absolutely would allow tens of millions of Americans to suffer to get their way and secure their billionaire tax cuts.
So, faced with that reality, I may have executed a strategic retreat to get us through the holidays. To let Americans be happy during our period of celebration and family gathering, before facing what Republicans plan to rain down on them. We return to the barricades in January, when I expect more backbone and to see those Epstein files.