House Democrats cave, vote for GOP bill to end record-breaking shutdown



House Republicans passed a government funding bill late Wednesday night, bringing Democrats' record-breaking shutdown closer to a welcome end.

The continuing resolution passed in a 222-209 vote, with 216 Republicans voting in favor and 209 Democrats voting against the funding bill. Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida, voted against the bill.

'Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price.'

Several Democrats also crossed the aisle, with a handful voting in favor of reopening the government. Democrat Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who is retiring at the end of this term, bucked his party, alongside Reps. Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Tom Suozzi of New York.

The resolution is now headed to President Donald Trump's desk, where he is expected to sign the bill into law Wednesday night and reopen the government.

RELATED: 'Pathetic' Senate Democrats cave, advancing key shutdown vote and prompting intraparty uproar: 'It’s a surrender'

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

The House vote took place just days after eight Democrat senators caved over the weekend and voted alongside Republicans to pass the funding bill in the Senate Monday night. These Democrats include Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Angus King (I) of Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.

Although some lawmakers crossed the aisle to reopen the government, Democrats ultimately failed to secure commitments from Republicans to negotiate health care policy.

"For over six weeks, Democrats held our country hostage over demands for health care for illegal aliens and to prove to their base they could 'stand up' to President Trump," Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (Texas) told Blaze News.

"Let me be clear: Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price," Pfluger added. "Now, it is time to get back to governing and delivering on the mandate we were given by the American people last November."

RELATED: Senate Republicans pass key deal with Democrat defectors as end to record-long shutdown draws near

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The reason Democrats shut down the government in the first place was to force the GOP to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

Democrats fell short, securing only a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on extending the subsidies. Notably, this offer was available to Democrats on day one of the government shutdown.

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Senate Republicans pass key deal with Democrat defectors as end to record-long shutdown draws near



The Senate Republicans officially passed their funding bill to reopen the government Monday night, with the help of Democrat defectors. The legislation is now in the House, where members are expected to vote to finally reopen the government sometime Wednesday.

Over 40 days into the record-long government shutdown, eight Senate Democrats voted to pass the same clean continuing resolution that has been on the table since day one. The funding bill was passed in a 60-40 vote, with Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Angus King (I) of Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada voting with 52 Republicans to reopen the government.

House Democrats are already whipping members to vote against reopening the government.

With just enough Democrats defecting to pass the GOP resolution, many of their fellow Democrats expressed disapproval for the "pathetic" deal they negotiated.

The main reason Democrats shut down the government in the first place was to force Republicans' hand on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that are expiring at the end of the year. One record-breaking shutdown later, all Democrats have to show for it is a pinky promise from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) that there will be a floor vote on the subsidies, which was offered to Democrats on day one of the shutdown.

RELATED: 'Pathetic' Senate Democrats cave, advancing key shutdown vote and prompting intraparty uproar: 'It’s a surrender'

Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

Republicans offered Democrats one minor concession Sunday night ahead of the filibuster vote: to reverse some firings made via reduction-in-force notices. Republicans agreed to reverse all RIFs issued during the shutdown and to refrain from issuing any more until the continuing resolution expires on January 30.

In total, this deal affects only about 4,200 employees of the roughly 150,000 federal workers who have been laid off since President Donald Trump began his second term in January.

RELATED: Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

The bill is now headed over to the House, where votes are expected to resume Wednesday afternoon after the House has been out of session for over 50 days. During a Monday press conference, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) publicly urged all members to return to Washington, D.C., as soon as possible to begin voting.

House Democrats are already whipping members to vote against reopening the government, arguing that the continuing resolution "fails to address" their health care concerns. Despite their ongoing opposition, the funding bill needs only a simple majority and is expected to pass the House.

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Why Five Democrats Broke Almost Six-Week Blockade To Reopen The Government

After 14 failed votes on a spending bill to reopen the government, five additional Democratic senators finally broke with their party for a variety of reasons on Sunday night advancing legislation to end the 41-day standoff. The newly dissenting Democrats — Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and […]

'Pathetic' Senate Democrats cave, advancing key shutdown vote and prompting intraparty uproar: 'It’s a surrender'



Over a month into the record-breaking shutdown, enough Senate Democrats finally caved to advance a key vote, sparking outrage within the party.

Eight Senate Democrats broke from their party late Sunday night to break the filibuster in a 60-40 vote, advancing key legislation and putting the government back on track to reopen after a record 41-day stalemate. The Senate is expected to formally pass the legislation Monday, when the continuing resolution will be punted back to the House.

'America deserves better.'

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire joined Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Angus King (I) of Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto, who have consistently voted to reopen the government for the last six weeks. Notably, only Shaheen and Durbin are up for re-election in 2026, and both are retiring.

Although these other rogue Democrats are electorally safe for the next several years, many of their colleagues have ridiculed them for bucking the party and cutting a deal with Republicans.

RELATED: Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures

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After 15 failed votes to reopen the government, Democrats folded and finally came to the negotiating table. Party negotiators walked away with a continuing resolution to fund the government through January 30 featuring a reversal on reduction-in-force notices issued after October 1 and also barring future RIFs from being issued through the duration of the CR.

While Republicans made concessions on RIFs, Democrats ultimately were unable to push through any meaningful policy goals and fell short on their call to extend Obamacare subsidies. In response, high-profile Democrats tore into their Senate colleagues for caving, calling it a "surrender."

"Pathetic," California Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office said in a post on X. "This isn’t a deal. It’s a surrender. Don’t bend the knee!"

"America deserves better," Newsom added in another post on X.

RELATED: Senate Republicans betray Trump, help Democrats try to block tariffs

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

It's not just rumored presidential hopefuls who took a stand against their Democrat Senate allies. Many of the eight defectors' colleagues came out against their vote, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

"There's no way to sugarcoat what happened tonight," Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in a post on X. "And my fear is that Trump gets stronger, not weaker, because of this acquiescence. I'm angry — like you. But I choose to keep fighting."

"To my mind, this was a very, very bad vote," independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said in a post on X.

"Just on Tuesday, we had an election, all over this country. And what the election showed is that the American people want us to stand up to Trumpism. ... That is what the American people wanted. But tonight, that is not what happened."

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Sen. Markwayne Mullin Says Schumer Squashed Government Reopening Until After Election

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) held a closed-door meeting in which he squashed his party's plans to reopen the government until after Tuesday's elections, fearing that a deal before the election could dampen Democratic turnout, according to Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.).

The post Sen. Markwayne Mullin Says Schumer Squashed Government Reopening Until After Election appeared first on .

Democrats Defy Call From Allied Federal Workers Union To End Government Shutdown

Senate Democrats largely brushed off the pleas of a longtime party ally to end the 28-day government shutdown on Tuesday, rejecting a clean funding measure to reopen the government for the 13th time. Senators voted 54 to 45 to temporarily fund the government through Nov. 21, falling short of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. The vote […]

Democrats brush off pressure from federal workers’ union to end government shutdown



Senate Democrats have brushed off pressure from the nation’s largest union of federal workers after the organization put pressure on lawmakers to end the ongoing government shutdown.

'It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike.'

As the shutdown enters its fifth week, the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 workers, called on both parties to abandon “partisan spin” and instead take action to ensure federal employees do not miss another paycheck.

“Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight,” Everett Kelley, president of the AFGE, stated. “It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship.”

Republicans previously proposed a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government until November 21, but Democrats repeatedly blocked it.

“When the folks who serve this country are standing in line for food banks after missing a second paycheck because of this shutdown, they aren’t looking for partisan spin,” Kelley continued. “They’re looking for the wages they earned. The fact that they’re being cheated out of it is a national disgrace.”

“It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike,” he added.

RELATED: Capitol Police officers are forced to take out loans to pay their bills because of government shutdown, union boss says

Photo by Moriah Ratner for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Yet CNN reported that Democratic lawmakers “appeared to be unmoved” by the AFGE’s demands, despite more than one million federal workers going unpaid.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) stated that the AFGE’s comments had “a lot of impact,” noting that the union has “been our friends and we’ve worked with them over the years.” However, he told CNN, “I’m not seeing any change in position at this time.”

RELATED: Trump admin blames Senate Democrats for SNAP debacle: 'The well has run dry'

Sen. Richard Durbin. Photo by Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said, “I work very closely with [the AFGE]. That matters to me. But the issue that I’ve always been focused on, that I’ve shared with y’all is, is a deal, a deal? And the AFGE would not want us to cut a deal and then have Trump fire a bunch of people next week. If we cut a deal and then he did that, they would come to us and say, ‘What the hell were you guys thinking?’”

The AFGE filed a lawsuit in September against the Trump administration to block any efforts to fire federal workers furloughed amid the shutdown.

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DHS torpedoes narrative of pro-Antifa priest who 'exploited' holy sacrament to score points on ICE



The Catholic Church holds that the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life" in which Jesus Christ is substantially present. It appears, however, that for Antifa-championing retired priest Larry Dowling and a handful of other clergymen, the Eucharist might double also as a political prop.

Dowling, who appears to spend much of his retirement pushing leftist propaganda on social media, led a Eucharistic procession on Saturday from St. Eulalia Church, where pro-abortion activist Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) spouted off about immigration, toward the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago in Broadview, Illinois.

The processing facility in Broadview has been heavily targeted in recent weeks by radicals critical of the Trump administration's faithful enforcement of federal immigration law. As as result, additional security supports have been implemented, including extra fencing.

'A procession through the public streets is to be held as a public witness of veneration toward the Most Holy Eucharist.'

In footage of the political procession, Dowling can be seen leading a gaggle of photographers and holding a monstrance, the container meant to hold the Eucharist, in the faces of state police while asking for access to the facility. It is unclear whether the monstrance contained a consecrated host at the time.

Footage also shows a supposed nun and others giving political speeches in front of an altar temporarily erected near the facility.

An expert on canon law who spoke to Blaze News on the condition of anonymity indicated that "this seems completely inappropriate."

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The 1983 Code of Canon Law provides that "when it can be done in the judgment of the diocesan bishop, a procession through the public streets is to be held as a public witness of veneration toward the Most Holy Eucharist."

The expert noted further that while canon law holds that "it is for the diocesan bishop to establish regulations [ordinationes] which provide for the participation in and the dignity of processions," "it remains completely inappropriate" to use the Eucharist as a prop.

'The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership exploited this holy event for political purposes, thus trivializing, if not defaming, its raison d’être.'

David Inczauskis, a Jesuit priest who served as the master of ceremonies, acknowledged that the procession was organized by the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, a grant-reliant anti-ICE outfit that provides training on how foreign nationals can evade federal immigration and authorities and is committed to transforming "racial, economic, social and environmental structures."

Blaze News has reached out to Dowling, Inczauskis, and Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago for comment.

Dr. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said in a statement to Blaze News:

The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership is a left-wing advocacy organization whose mission statement says nothing about Christianity or Catholicism. More revealing is what it flags on its website — a strong commitment to merging "Liberation Theology & Community Organizing." Liberation theology is a curious admixture of Marxism and Christianity, and in practice it has done more to oppress than liberate the masses in developing countries. As such it is bizarre to learn that this radical entity held a Eucharistic procession to a migrant detention center in Illinois, a facility run by ICE.

It appears that the participants in this political procession were keen on shaming federal agents and securing a photo opportunity — and judging from the event's recent coverage in publications such as the leftist blog Common Dreams, WBBM-TV, and the propaganda outfit MeidasTouch, the radicals got at least half of what they wanted.

"Eucharistic processions are a decidedly solemn event whereby the Blessed Sacrament is carried out of a church and into the streets; many Catholic parishes conduct such a procession on the feast of Corpus Christ, the body of Christ," continued Donohue. "What Catholics do not do is exploit Eucharistic processions to advance a partisan agenda."

"Quite frankly, the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership exploited this holy event for political purposes, thus trivializing, if not defaming, its raison d’être," added Donohue.

In addition to potentially using Holy Communion as a prop, the protesters subsequently did their best to push a false narrative.

Dowling said in a statement on Facebook, "We went to pray and have a few of us clergy and religious women bring Holy Communion and the love of the Christian community to the men and women detained there under inhumane conditions."

The retired priest claimed that when the processionists allegedly asked to administer Holy Communion to the detainees inside the facility, "the answer came back very clearly: NO, YOU CANNOT BRING A HINT OF COMPASSION AND PRAYER INTO THIS PLACE! NO, YOU CANNOT OFFER ANY SOLACE TO THE MEN AND WOMEN FEARFUL AND SUFFERING INSIDE! NO, YOU CANNOT BRING JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, THE LOVE OF GOD INTO THIS PLACE!"

RELATED: Anti-ICE protest in Portland takes ugly turn when naked cyclists show up

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

"Yesterday, we witnessed another level of evil," claimed Inczauskis. "Not only are migrants being torn away from their families and friends. They are also being torn away from their religious communities. ICE is severing the Body of Christ."

Contrary to the narrative advanced by Dowling and Inczauskis, the Department of Homeland Security indicated to Blaze News that compassion was precisely why ICE couldn't immediately oblige the processionists' last-minute request for entry.

"Over the past month, rioters have swarmed the Broadview ICE facility and Chicago streets. They have assaulted law enforcement, attacked law enforcement with vehicles, thrown tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, been arrested with firearms in their possession, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property," said a DHS official. "Our ICE staff informed the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership that the Broadview processing center was not able to accommodate visitors on such short notice, for their safety as well as that of detainees and staff, and due to the ensuing riots."

The official noted further that "as ICE law enforcement has seen a surge in assaults, disruptions, and obstructions to enforcement, including by politicians themselves, any requests to tour processing centers and field offices must be approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security."

Such requests should be filed a week in advance to "prevent interference with the President’s Article II authority to oversee executive department functions," added the official.

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Pam Bondi presses Democrat over hypocritical demand: 'You sure didn't have order that day, did you, Senator?'



Attorney General Pam Bondi had a fiery exchange with several Democrats, including Sen. Alex Padilla (D) of California, during her congressional testimony on Tuesday.

Bondi and Padilla sparred when the attorney general called out the Democrat for hypocritically demanding "order" during Tuesday's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The two had a tense back-and-forth before Padilla called for order during the hearing despite repeatedly interrupting Bondi whenever she attempted to respond to questions.

'You stormed the director of Homeland Security.'

Padilla initially asked Bondi whether she thought FBI Director Kash Patel is "doing a good job."

"I believe Director Patel is doing a great job," Bondi said.

Bondi then tried to turn the tables, asking, "You know where he is right now, Senator Padilla?" At that point, Padilla tried to interject, but Bondi continued with her thought.

"You asked me a question!" Bondi said after Padilla began talking over her. "Director Patel is in Chicago right now ... fighting to keep Chicago safe."

RELATED: Pam Bondi tears into Democratic senator: 'I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump'

Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Padilla continued talking over the attorney general, yet repeatedly called for "order" before Bondi eventually unloaded on the Democratic senator.

"You know, you want 'order' here now, yet you stormed the Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem," Bondi said. "You sure didn't have order that day, did you, Senator?"

Padilla quietly attempted to dismiss Bondi's claims, despite extensive video evidence depicting his disruptive confrontation with Noem and subsequent detainment back in June.

RELATED: Trump reportedly sends 300 National Guard members to Portland from California — and Democrats are seething

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Padilla originally confronted Noem during a Los Angeles press conference in June about the ongoing protests and riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Padilla burst into the conference and rushed toward the podium before he was forcefully removed.

Noem claimed she chatted with Padilla after the press conference and even exchanged phone numbers with him, Bill Melugin of Fox News reported at the time. According to Melugin, Noem characterized their conversation as "cordial and beneficial."

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Durbin Spreads Cartoonishly False Hoax About ICE Agents Tying Up Children

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, opened the oversight hearing of the Department of Justice (DOJ) pushing a new narrative Democrats have latched on to: the lie that ICE agents zip-tied children during a Chicago raid. “In the middle of the night, federal agents pulled women and children out of […]