What ended the shutdown?
The shutdown ended on January 22 when Congress Republicans and Democrats agreed on a stopgap bill which ensures funding for the federal government through February 8th. The House of Representatives quickly approved this temporary spending bill, and it was sent to President Trump on Monday night to be signed.
This bill also extends funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six more years. CHIP provides affordable health insurance to children whose families earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Each state implements CHIP differently. In Colorado, this program is called the Child Health Plan Plus, or CHP+. Colorado’s implementation of this plan is notable in that it includes coverage for pregnant women.
Further, the stopgap bill suspends tax increases that were meant to help pay for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
What happens now?
Congressional Democrats and Republicans will have to reach an agreement on a new federal spending bill before February 8th. In order to get their agreement to pass the current temporary spending bill, Republican Senator and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised Democrats that the fate of undocumented Dreamers be addressed as a part of the official spending bill.
Across the country, thousands of non essential government employees return to work, and Senators from both political parties buckle down to draft new proposals for the rapidly approaching federal spending vote.
President Trump tweeted this message at 11:30 p.m. following his signing of the stopgap bill: “Big win for Republicans as Democrats cave on Shutdown. Now I want a big win for everyone, including Republicans, Democrats and DACA, but especially for our Great Military and Border Security. Should be able to get there. See you at the negotiating table!”
While at this point it is hard to discern President Trump’s intentions from what he has said publicly, his Tweet seems to imply that he is willing to compromise on DACA, a turn of events that would have seemed improbable just a couple weeks ago. Democrats and Republicans alike feel optimistic that he will show more leadership in this round of budget negotiations.
Now that the government is back on its feet, we can expect updates on the financial situation and the fate of DACA in the coming weeks.