End to US government shutdown in sight as Senate passes deal, sending it to House
The US shutdown is on a path to end this week, as the House of Representatives convenes as early as Wednesday for a final vote
The longest-ever US government shutdown moved towards an eventual resolution on Monday, after several Democratic senators broke ranks to join Republicans in a 60-40 vote passing a compromise deal, sparking intraparty backlash.
Since October 1, the first day of the shutdown, more than a million federal workers have been unpaid, while government benefits and services have been increasingly disrupted.
Severe impacts on air traffic have begun to mount in recent days, with more than 1,000 flights cancelled daily, raising the political pressure to end the stalemate.
“We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding: “The deal is very good.”
After the vote, Senate Republican Leader John Thune wrote on social media that he was glad to support the “clear path to ending this unnecessary shutdown in a responsible way that quickly pays federal workers and reopens the federal government”.