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- By Levi Rickert
The U.S. Senate on Monday night approved a bipartisan deal to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, breaking a weeks-long standoff that disrupted food aid for millions, left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay, and snarled air travel across the country.
The 60–40 vote saw nearly all Republicans and eight Democrats back the measure, which funds the government and averts further layoffs. Democrats failed to secure an immediate extension of federal health subsidies set to expire at year’s end, though the agreement guarantees a December vote on the issue affecting 24 million Americans.
A small group of eight Senate Democrats joined nearly all Republicans to back the legislation, which now moves to the House of Representatives for final approval and then to the president’s desk for signature. The House of Representatives may vote on the measure as early as this Wednesday.
If the House passes the Senate bill and the president signs it, the government will officially reopen— allowing full federal operations to resume. However, the legislative work is far from done: both parties will confront disputes over health care, the debt ceiling, and long-term funding in the months ahead.
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