Who are the dissenting Democrats? Will air travel chaos finally end? Questions and answers about the US government shutdown

This past Sunday, which marked the 40th day of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, five Democrats broke with their party in the Senate and switched sides. With their votes, and those of the three senators who had been aligned with the Republicans since the beginning of the shutdown, the conservatives were able to secure the 60 votes they needed to pass a budget proposal to end the crisis.

It has been six weeks of a fierce battle, during which both sides tried to blame each other for the paralysis. The decision by those eight senators in the Democratic caucus to defect to the other side represents a victory for the Republicans, who have barely budged from their initial position.

It also opens a new crisis in the Democratic party, just a week after its resounding electoral victories of November 4 in New York, New Jersey and Virginia. Voter support at that time seemed to reward the party’s refusal to compromise with its rivals to reopen the administration’s funding until certain commitments were made—commitments that have ultimately failed to materialize.

What agreement has been reached?

Senate Republicans unveiled a bill on Sunday that convinced five of their rivals to reach the supermajority required by the filibuster. They secured an agreement to reopen the federal government until the end of January, fund food stamps for 42 million people through fiscal year 2026, and guarantee that the Trump administration will reinstate employees laid off in recent weeks, retroactively pay back wages to those who kept their jobs, and refrain from firing any more federal employees for the next two and a half months. Three budget bills will also be signed into law, one concerning veterans, the Department of Agriculture, and legislative agencies.

The agreement also includes a commitment to hold a Senate vote on extending Obamacare subsidies (the name given to the Affordable Care Act by the president who championed it). The dissenters tried to present it as good news, although it seems obvious that it will be of little use.

Neither the Republicans nor Trump, who has been attacking the measure for days, seem willing to be persuaded on this point by their rivals, much less to pass the aid into law. The Democrats who switched sides argue that the vote will at least serve to expose their rivals’ true colors on one of the main concerns of Americans.

What’s left out?

What had been a red line for Democrats from the beginning: the Obamacare tax credits approved during the Covid pandemic, which will cease to be repaid at the end of this year. This will result in higher health insurance premiums for millions of Americans.

What were the vote totals in the Senate?

The Senate has 100 seats in the United States, two per state. In the 2024 elections, Republicans won 53 seats, compared to 47 for Democrats. There is one conservative senator—Rand Paul of Kentucky—who has sided with his rivals since the beginning of the crisis. On Monday night, Paul did so again in a vote that passed easily: 60 yes votes to 40 no votes.

So what now?

The House of Representatives, which must now vote on the agreement, has been in recess since September, before the government shutdown, by order (and a political calculation) of its Speaker, Mike Johnson. On Monday, Johnson announced at a press conference that he had ordered all members of Congress outside the capital to return to Washington. They have 36 hours to do so. The House, where Republicans hold a slim but sufficient majority, had already voted before the shutdown in favor of funding the government. It will do so again.

Afterward, the proposal will have to be signed by President Trump. No one in Washington is in a position to predict when that process will be completed, although it is expected to be before the end of this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

Which senators have given in?

There are eight in total, seven Democrats and one independent. Three of them have not voted with their party since October 1, the first day the government shut down. They are John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Catherine Cortez Maso (Nevada), and the independent Angus King (Maine).

Among those who switched sides on Sunday are the two senators from New Hampshire, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine (Virginia), Dick Durbin (Illinois) and Jacky Rosen (Nevada).

Each had their reasons. Kaine, for example, argued that his state, due to its proximity to Washington, has some 300,000 federal employees who were either furloughed or, because they were considered “essential,” had to go to work without pay. The two Nevada governors felt the pressure from the Las Vegas tourism industry and the rest of the state, which was affected by air traffic disruptions and flight cancellations, as well as the closure or neglect of national parks.

Durbin, who is not running for reelection in the next elections, scheduled for November 2026, said in a statement: “This bill is not perfect, but it takes important steps to reduce the damage of the shutdown.” He is the Senate minority whip and, therefore, the only one of the dissenters who is part of the party’s leadership in the chamber.

When will things return to normal at airports?

It’s impossible to know until it’s clear when the government will reopen. What is certain, however, is that when it does, the domino effect of cancellations and delays will be felt for several days. One of the worst effects of the government shutdown has been on air traffic controllers and airport security personnel, who are considered essential workers. They were suspended without pay, but not from their jobs: they had to report to work, but without pay.

With many employees taking leave or retiring, a decision by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to cancel hundreds of flights at the 40 largest U.S. airports went into effect last Friday. Following a chaotic weekend, 2,306 flights were canceled on Monday, according to the website FlightAware. An additional 8,300 flights were delayed.

And what about the food stamp system?

Again, it depends on when the government reopens fully. The Trump administration has done everything possible to suspend SNAP, the food stamp program. Two judges blocked this attempt, but the Supreme Court partially ruled in favor last Friday. The government has also asked states to recover the money that has been distributed in recent days to the 42 million beneficiaries of the program. This tug-of-war has created a precedent, as well as chaos in a system vital to one in eight citizens of the country.

What about other agencies?

The shutdown has paralyzed dozens of federal agencies and led to the closure or neglect of museums, monuments and national parks. It has also forced thousands of government employees to rely on food banks. A return to normalcy is near in all cases, but it is not yet possible to predict a specific date.

What will this government shutdown be remembered for?

For breaking a historic record. Last Tuesday, it became the longest shutdown in U.S. history, surpassing the previous one, which lasted 35 days: that one began on December 22, 2018, and ended on January 25 of the following year. That shutdown stemmed from the Democrats’ refusal to fund Trump’s border wall with Mexico. The shutdowns under Bill Clinton in 1995 (21 days) and Barack Obama in 2013 (16 days) occupy the third and fourth positions, respectively.

The government has been forced to shut down 22 times in the last 50 years. This latest shutdown marks the third time it has happened with Trump in the White House.

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