Senate takes steps to end shutdown

WASHINGTON — The US Senate on Sunday night advanced a bipartisan spending package in a bid to end the longest government shutdown, which has entered its 40th day and caused a series of escalating disruptions.

The Republican-led chamber approved a procedural vote by 60 votes to 40, putting a hard limit on how much longer senators can discuss the legislative measure.

It gave lawmakers a maximum of 30 more hours to conduct debate before voting on the motion, which will only need 50 votes to pass.

It will still need approval from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before it lands on President Donald Trump's desk — a process which could take days.

But the development represents significant progress toward ending a government shutdown that has dragged on for over 40 days, halted funding to federal programs and disrupted air travel and other essential industries.

The breakthrough came after Republican and Democratic lawmakers reached a stopgap agreement to fund the government through January, after wrangling over healthcare subsidies, food benefits and Trump's firings of federal employees.

As the news emerged, Trump told reporters when he arrived at the White House after a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida: "It looks like we're getting very close to the shutdown ending."

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia was among the eight who joined Republicans to support the measure, saying: "I need a moratorium on the punishing of the federal workforce."

Virginia is home to 300,000 federal workers, and the deal would restore all furloughed employees and reverse reductions-in-force layoffs by the Trump administration.

The bill to keep the government funded at pre-shutdown levels "will protect federal workers from baseless firings, reinstate those who have been wrongfully terminated during the shutdown, and ensure federal workers receive back pay" as required by law, Kaine added.

Fellow Democrat Chuck Schumer could not be persuaded and voted against the measure, saying that "Republicans have spent the past 10 months dismantling the healthcare system, skyrocketing costs, and making every day harder for American families".

But Republican Senator John Thune celebrated the win, and what it could mean for the US people facing intense financial strain.

"After 40 days of uncertainty, I'm profoundly glad to be able to announce that nutrition programs, our veterans, and other critical priorities will have their full-year funding," Thune said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier on Sunday that if the shutdown continued, the number of flights being cut would multiply, even as US people gear up to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday later this month.

Duffy warned that US air travel could soon "slow to a trickle", as thousands more flights were canceled or delayed over the weekend.

Record cancellations

The number of cancellations both within the United States as well as to and from the country had surpassed 3,000, with more than 10,000 delays, by Sunday evening, according to data from tracking platform FlightAware.

Major airlines were dealing with a third day of government-mandated flight cuts along with rising air traffic controller absences, which have caused thousands of delays and cancellations. Delta Air Lines was especially hard hit, canceling or delaying 52 percent of its mainline flights on Sunday.

The FAA said staffing shortages at Newark and LaGuardia airports in New York were leading to average departure delays of about 75 minutes.

Without a deal, Duffy warned that many US people planning to travel for the Nov 27 Thanksgiving holiday are "not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn't open back up".

It could take days for flight schedules to recover after the shutdown finally ends and federal funding, including salaries, starts to flow again.

The funding agreement has revealed significant divisions within the Democratic Party as many Democrats in the House and beyond the beltway have opposed the deal.

"For me, it's no deal without healthcare," Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, was quoted by CNN as saying. "So far as I'm concerned, healthcare isn't included, and so I'll be a no."

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, said: "People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It's about people's lives."

"Working people want leaders whose word means something."

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom also panned the move with one word on X: "Pathetic."

Agencies - Xinhua