House set to vote on reopening the government
WASHINGTON (NBC, KYMA) - The House is preparing to vote Wednesday on a bill to finally end the 43-day long government shutdown.
The bill, already passed in the Senate, funds the government through the end of January.
If it passes, President Donald Trump could sign it into law later that night, reopening the government, but questions remain about how quickly air travel can get back to full capacity and when SNAP recipients will get their full food assistance.
On what could be the final day of the nation's longest government shutdown, House members are racing back to Washington to cast a critical vote on the Senate-passed short-term funding bill.
"House Republicans, welcome back from your taxpayer-funded seven week vacation," said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Minority Leader.
Democratic leadership slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson's move to keep members out of session while the shutdown dragged on as Republicans pin the pain on Democrats.
"For 42 days and counting, Democrats have held the country hostage," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK).
House Democrats set to vote against the deal a breakaway group of senate moderates agreed to, angered that it does nothing to address the central sticking point of lowering healthcare costs and extending Affordable Care Act tax credits.
"Health care costs are still poised to double or even triple for some folks, practically overnight," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).
With a newly-elected Democrat being sworn in soon, House Republicans can only afford to lose two votes. It is expected to pass and secure President Trump's signature.
"We're opening up our country...should have never been closed," Trump remarked.
Relief can't come soon enough for the nation's airports, where flight delays and cancellations are growing.
"It has to be the shutdown. What else could it be? This has never happened to me before," said Marilynn Ross, an airline passenger.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the situation, driven by staffing shortages, will get much worse if the shutdown stretches into the weekend.
"If this doesn't open, you might have airlines that say we're going to we're going to ground our planes," Duffy explained.
A lot on the line in the final push to get the government back in business.
Even if the funding bill passes and Trump signs it later this evening, officials are warning a shutdown is not an on-off switch.
Airlines say they won't be able to bounce back to full capacity right away. Delays also likely for the 40 million Americans waiting for full SNAP food assistance benefits.
