Shutdown-ending funding bill (FY2026)
How Congress voted
| Chamber | Date | Question | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | 2025-11-10 | Passage (with amendment) | Passed 60–40 Eight members of the Democratic caucus voted yes; Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote no. | Roll call 618 |
| House | 2025-11-12 | Agree to the Senate amendment (final) | Passed 222–209 | Roll call 285 |
Both sides
What the bill did. Ended the federal government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025. It funds most agencies at last year’s levels through January 30, 2026, provides full-year funding for agriculture (including SNAP and WIC), veterans’ affairs and military construction, and Congress itself, and pays back wages to furloughed workers and reverses shutdown-era layoffs. [1] [2]
Strongest case for
Supporters say reopening the government was urgent. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he “cannot accept a strategy that wages political battle” at the expense of federal workers’ paychecks, and the law pays back wages to furloughed employees and bars layoffs (reductions in force) through January 30, 2026. [2] [1]
It includes three full-year spending bills (agriculture, military construction and veterans’ affairs, and the legislative branch), with full funding of SNAP benefits through the end of September, and keeps the rest of the government open through Jan. 30. [1] [2]
Democrats who voted yes argued it was the best path to a health-care fix: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) called it “the only deal on the table” and the best chance to “immediately begin negotiations” on the ACA tax credits, and Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) promised a Senate vote on the subsidies by the end of the second week of December. [2]
Independent Sen. Angus King said the promised vote raised the odds of an extension from “zero” to “maybe 50%.” [2] [3]
Strongest case against
Most Senate Democrats voted no because the bill did not extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025; Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said it “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s health care crisis,” and NBC reported more than 20 million Americans could see premiums rise. [2]
Critics noted the promised December vote carried no guarantee: it needed 60 votes, and all 53 Senate Republicans had just voted against a one-year extension. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the deal “a terrible mistake.” [2] [3]
Fiscal watchdogs raised a different objection: the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the package “effectively codifies $3.4 trillion of new borrowing” by wiping the Pay-As-You-Go scorecard and allows further deficit increases through the end of this Congress. [4]
What neither side is saying
Context that bears on what this bill does or who it affects but that the arguments above do not address. These are sourced facts, not arguments for or against the bill.
- The size and spread of the economic hit. CBO estimated that in a six-week shutdown about $11 billion of real GDP would never be recovered, because lost work hours of furloughed employees cannot be made up; delayed spending was expected to be made up later. CRS puts that at less than 1% of GDP and notes the effects were uneven, hitting the Washington, D.C., area and places reliant on federal funds harder. It also reported the Small Business Administration said the shutdown held up $5.3 billion in loans to 10,000 small businesses. [5] [6]
- Who was paid later, and who was not. The funding law provided for all federal employees to be paid retroactively, as a 2019 law already guaranteed. Employees of private contractors have no similar guarantee, CBS News reported. In 2024 the federal government spent about $755 billion on contracts, per GAO, and Oxford Economics estimates up to 10 million private-sector workers are supported by federal grants and contracts. [5] [7]
- What extending the ACA credits was estimated to cost and cover. CBO estimated that permanently extending the enhanced premium tax credits would add about $349.8 billion to deficits over 10 years and increase the number of insured people by 3.8 million by 2035. KFF estimates that their expiration raises average Marketplace premium payments by 114%, about $1,016 a year. [8] [9]
Editorial context, not the opinion of We Elect. Each point is a fact we found in a source we opened and read; where sources disagree or data are missing, we say so. How we choose these.
Sources
- H.R.5371 – Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 — Congress.gov (CRS summary) (Government record, 2025-11-12)
- Senate passes bill to reopen the government as 8 Democrats join with Republicans — NBC News (News report, 2025-11-10)
- Democrats rebel after 8 senators cut a deal to end the shutdown without ACA funds — NBC News (News report, 2025-11-10)
- CRFB Reacts to End of America’s Longest Shutdown — Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (Think tank statement, 2025-11-12)
- The 2025 (FY2026) Government Shutdown: Economic Effects (R48832) — Congressional Research Service (Government record (CRS), 2026-01-29)
- A Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of the Government Shutdown on the Economy Under Three Scenarios, as of October 29, 2025 — Congressional Budget Office (letter hosted by the House Budget Committee) (Government record (CBO), 2025-10-29)
- Who gets back pay and who doesn’t after a government shutdown? — CBS News (News report, 2025-10)
- Permanent health tax credit extension would insure 3.8 million: CBO — Roll Call (News report, 2025-09-18)
- How Much More Would People Pay in Premiums if the ACA’s Enhanced Premium Tax Credits Expire? — KFF (Think tank analysis, 2026)
Editorial summary of arguments made by others, not the opinion of We Elect. Last reviewed 2026-10-26. How we write both sides.
We Elect is a Brunner Creative site. Editorial summary of arguments made by others, not the opinion of We Elect. Each side is written to be the strongest case its supporters would recognize, and every claim is tied to a source we opened and read.