Overview
- The Senate approved the funding bill 60-40 to reopen and finance the government through Jan. 30 after more than five weeks of closure.
- The measure restores SNAP benefits and orders the rehiring of federal workers dismissed during the shutdown with back pay protections.
- Eight Democrats joined Republicans to advance the bill, drawing sharp backlash from progressives who wanted an immediate extension of ACA premium tax credits.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to holding a vote on any subsidy extension, creating uncertainty even if the Senate takes up the issue in December.
- Analyses from KFF, CBO and Oxford Economics warn that letting the enhanced credits lapse could roughly double marketplace premiums, increase the uninsured by about 4 million, and hit Southern, largely Republican states hardest as insurers price 2026 plans assuming expiration.