WASHINGTON — The federal government is now open after the U.S. House passed a measure Wednesday to bring an end to the record-shattering shutdown. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law soon after its passage.
Alabama’s House Republicans voted for the legislation to fund the government through the end of January and fully fund programs that cover agriculture, veterans, military construction and the legislative branch. The state’s two Democrats opposed it. The vote was 222-209 with six Democrats joining nearly all Republicans to pass the funding bill.
Wednesday night’s vote marked the first time the full House was back in the chamber since Sept. 19, ending a 54-day recess.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, said he is “glad” the shutdown is coming to an end, adding, “it should have been over a long time ago.”
Even now that the gridlock in Congress has ended, the shutdown will leave a trail of impacts across Alabama and the nation, with food aid benefits still delayed, massive flight disruptions and missed paychecks.
“We’ve got a lot of military bases, a lot of general contractors, stuff that’s important to our state, but it’s more important to those families to have income, and so I’m excited it’s finally over,” Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, told Alabama Daily News.
Reps. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, and Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, joined the House Democratic caucus outside the Capitol before the vote to show their unified opposition to the legislative package.
Democrats had been pushing for an extension of the health insurance subsidies that help Americans pay for coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, but it did not make it into the measure. Instead, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-SD, promised Democrats they could get a vote on the tax credits.
“What were Republicans willing to give in the end?” Figures said during the’ press conference. “Nothing more than a handshake deal to take a future vote on extending the health care subsidies. When we all know that that future vote is the equivalent of asking two wolves and a chicken to vote on what’s for dinner. It is dead on arrival.”
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, speaks during a House Democrat press conference on health care Wednesday. (Alex Angle/Alabama Daily News)
And with less than two months until the new year, Democrats said the health care fight is far from over. On Wednesday, House Democratic leaders introduced a discharge petition to try and force a vote on a three-year extension of the subsidies.
“I want my constituents to know that nobody wins in a government shutdown, but it is a false choice that you have to choose between opening up government and protecting the health care of Americans,” Sewell told ADN. “We can do both, and we must do both.”
Figures said 50,000 people in his district will see their premiums nearly double on average next year. In his remarks, the first-time congressman highlighted how 10 of the 13 counties in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District either don’t have a hospital or have one that’s on “life support.”
“Extending the health care premium subsidies is something that’s very important,” he told ADN.
“Making sure that we have the resources that are necessary throughout the state of Alabama to bolster up our rural hospitals to make sure that we are doing what it takes, from a federal resource standpoint, to not lose Jackson Hospital in Montgomery is also critical,” Figures added.
Republicans are also interested in making health care more affordable, but as of now, they have no set plan for how they might do that. Moore and GOP lawmakers are interested in a more personalized approach. But it will be hard to make that happen before 2026.
“We need to look at a plan that allows people to pick plans (and) customize plans,” Moore told ADN. “Quit sending the subsidies to the insurance companies, and let the American taxpayers feel that in their pockets as they buy their health care plans,” Moore told ADN.
Next week, the House will return for a full legislative week, with much to catch up on, including committee hearings, floor debates and votes on legislation that never happened in October. The House and Senate will also work to pass the remaining full-year spending bills.
“We must bring regular order back to our appropriations process by ending backroom omnibus deals and holiday fiscal cliffs,” Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Birmingham, said in a statement. “This is a good start, and I look forward to passing the final nine appropriations bills before the January 30 deadline so we can get Congress back on track.”
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