White House backs deal to end US shutdown in the coming days

WASHINGTON – The White House on Nov 10 expressed support for the bipartisan deal to end the US shutdown, a key development that makes it likely the government reopens within days. 

President Donald Trump has wanted the government reopened since the start of the shutdown and considers the deal a positive development, a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity said.  

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he spoke with Mr Trump about the deal on the night of Nov 9 and he expects the president to sign it into law once Congress passes the legislation. 

The Senate still must wind its way through potentially time-consuming procedures and House members must travel back to Washington to vote for the first time since Sept 19.

The Senate is resuming deliberations on its deal
with centrist Democrats on Nov 10 but has not yet scheduled a vote for final passage. Mr Thune said he hopes the vote would be “in hours and not days.” 

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would give House lawmakers 36 hours’ notice to return to the Capitol once the Senate passes the Bill.

Flight disruptions
and food aid delays
are likely to persist until the shutdown officially ends. Still, Republicans on Nov 10 took a victory lap, with Mr Johnson telling reporters that the shutdown “nightmare,” now in its 41st day, is finally coming to an end. 

Stocks rallied on Nov 10 morning on bets the shutdown will soon end, with the S&P 500 up more than 1 per cent shortly after the market opened. A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps climbed over 2 per cent. Bonds fell.

The moderate senators’ deal failed to deliver the extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that Democrats staked their shutdown fight on, provoking a furious backlash within the party just days after many Democrats were celebrating last week’s election victories.

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom called the deal “pathetic” while Illinois Governor Jay Pritzker slammed Republican concessions in the agreement as an “empty promise.” 

Senate vote 

The Senate took a major step towards reopening the federal government
on the evening of Nov 9 as it voted 60-40 on a procedural measure to advance a temporary funding Bill.

Under the agreement, Congress would pass full-year funding for the departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and Congress itself, while funding other agencies through Jan 30. The Bill would provide pay for furloughed government workers, resume withheld federal payments to states and localities and recall agency employees who were laid off during the shutdown.

Given that the House has to return to Washington and has promised to give lawmakers advance notice, the government is most likely to reopen toward the end of the week. One complicating factor is whether Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, imposes days of Senate delay to oppose a provision restricting the sale of intoxicating hemp products.

House passage is not guaranteed, although Mr Johnson signalled on Nov 10 he expects there would be enough votes. Democratic leaders have spoken out against any deal that doesn’t include extending expiring Obamacare subsidies, which this Bill does not do. Conservative Republican members want a Bill that would fund the entire government until next Sept 30. 

“We have to do this as quickly as possible,” Mr Johnson told reporters, musing there could be several late nights ahead. 

Healthcare fight

The face-saving accord falls far short of the goals of House and Senate Democratic leaders, who had demanded an extension of expiring Obamacare premium subsidies and a repeal of Medicaid cuts passed by Republicans earlier in 2025.  

Democrats secured a pledge by Senate Republicans to vote on a Bill to renew the Affordable Care Act tax credits by mid-December, according to a person familiar with the talks.

“That’s a big deal, and it gives us a chance to put the Republicans to the test,” Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who usually supports Democratic positions but is backing temporary funding, said on MSNBC Nov 10 morning. “It may not succeed, I grant that, but a reasonable chance, ten, twenty per cent, thirty per cent is a lot better than zero per cent.”

That promise, which Mr Thune first offered weeks ago, was not satisfying to all Democrats. It also doesn’t guarantee a House vote but Mr Thune said on Nov 10 he expects Mr Trump to want to “do something on healthcare costs.” 

Even the daughter of one of the moderate Democrats who helped reach the deal publicly slammed the agreement. 

“I cannot support this deal,” Ms Stefany Shaheen, daughter of New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and congressional candidate, said in a social media post.  “Too many people will see health care costs that are already too high skyrocket even further starting in January.”

The approaching resolution of the shutdown mirrors that of past showdowns where the party attempting to leverage a government closure for policy victories ends up without a victory. Mr Trump failed to secure border wall funding through the 2018-2019 shutdown and Republicans failed to repeal Obamacare during the 2013 closing. BLOOMBERG