Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King both played key roles in Sunday's vote to end the 40-day-long government shutdown.
King, who is an independent, was one of the lead negotiators on a controversial deal that would reopen the government in exchange for assurances from Senate Republicans that senators will vote on extending subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. He and seven Democrats — including New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan — then bucked the majority of their caucus and provided Republicans with the 60 votes needed to advance a spending bill.
It was the first of many votes in the House and Senate that would be needed to reopen the government, and the outcome of those future votes is far from assured. Some of their Democratic colleagues, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, as well as many progressives strongly criticized that vote because it did not guarantee an extension of the tax credits. Tens of millions of Americans will see their health insurance premiums increase if the subsidies expire at the end of the year.
But King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said during a press conference late Sunday that it was clear to him that Democrats' strategy wasn't working.
"As I assessed it, there was zero chance of dealing with the ACA issue as long as the shutdown continued," King told reporters. " Now, I don't know, 50/50? But there's a lot better chance than there was this morning."
King has voted multiple times to reopen government because he believes the shutdown is harming innocent people and empowering the Trump administration.
Collins, who is chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, put forward the bill to fund the government through January 30. Under her measure, lawmakers would also pass full-year funding bills for some programs, including food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
"One of the most unfortunate and shameful consequences of the shutdown has been that these vital nutrition programs were in jeopardy for our most vulnerable families, including 170,000 Mainers who rely on the SNAP program," Collins said in a floor speech on Sunday night. "Other programs will be funded through January 30 while the Senate and House continue our work on the remainder of the year-long appropriations bills."
After more than a dozen previous failed attempts, the Senate voted 60-40 late Sunday to advance a straight-forward continuing resolution to temporarily fund the federal government that had been passed by the House in September. As part of the deal, Collins will then ask the Senate to amend that bill to continue funding all federal agencies through January 30 plus to provide full-year funding to military construction, veterans' affairs, agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and other programs.
In return for their votes, the seven Democratic senators plus King received assurances from Senate Majority Leader John Thune that the chamber will vote by mid-December on a Democratic proposal to extend the ACA subsidies. As part of the deal, all federal workers who were either working or furloughed during the shutdown will receive back pay and the Trump administration will have to rehire thousands of workers that it fired during the shutdown.
But most Democrats opposed the deal because it does not guarantee that Congress will extend health care subsidies under the ACA. Many Democrats also expressed skepticism that House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and his GOP caucus will agree to those terms or that President Trump will honor them.
