Peace Garden News

The U.S. Senate has voted 60 to 40 to move forward with an appropriations package aimed at ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The decision came after late negotiations brought five more Democratic senators on board, reaching the 60 votes required to invoke cloture. Previously, three Democrats had supported Republicans during 14 earlier attempts.

Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) attributed the progress to President Donald Trump's involvement in recent days. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is leading the plan, which begins with this vote and aims to reopen the government by passing a modified continuing resolution (CR). This version would maintain current funding levels through January 2026 and include three appropriations bills previously passed by the Senate: Agriculture-FDA, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-VA.

After voting for the motion, Senator Cramer stated: “After a record-breaking shutdown, we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Advancing this appropriations package gets us one step closer to paying the troops, the border patrol agents and all the other federal workers who were inexcusably used as leverage by Democrats. While Chuck Schumer may have believed it got better and better each day the government was closed, the rest of the country paid the price for his political games.”

The Senate is expected to vote later in the week on final passage of both the CR and appropriations bills before sending them to the House of Representatives. The House is anticipated to approve them as well, after which they will go to President Trump for his signature into law.