The shutdown stalemate that has dragged on in the Senate officially ended late Monday night, and it places Congress on a path to reopen the government later this week.

Senators advanced a bipartisan funding package to end the government shutdown after a group of Senate Democrats broke from their colleagues and joined Republicans in their bid to reopen the government.

Those same eight Senate Democratic caucus members stuck with Republicans and provided the crucial votes needed to send the package to the House.

The votes went deep into Monday night on the shutdown’s 41st day and resulted in an updated continuing resolution (CR) being combined with a trio of spending bills in a minibus package that is now headed to the House.

Whether the Senate would get to this point was in the air for much of last week and even earlier in the day. On Monday, lawmakers were riding high after smashing through the package’s first procedural test, but concerns of objections and other procedural maneuvers threatened to derail the process.

‘I think everybody’s pretty united [behind] this bill,’ Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said. ‘We want to reopen the government.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus demanded throughout the entirety of the shutdown that they would only vote to reopen the government if they received an ironclad deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies.

But that deal, or at least the one that Democrats wanted, never materialized. Instead, eight Senate Democrats took the offer that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has made since the beginning: A guarantee to vote on legislation that would deal with the subsidies.

Thune reiterated his promise and noted that a vote would come, ‘No later than the second week of December.’ The subsidies are set to expire by the end of the year.

‘We have senators, both Democrat and Republican, who are eager to get to work to address that crisis in a bipartisan way,’ he said. ‘These senators are not interested in political games, they’re interested in finding real ways to address healthcare costs for American families. We also have a president who is willing to sit down and get to work on this issue.’

Senate Democrats did not leave completely empty-handed, however.

Included in the revamped CR, which would reopen the government until Jan. 30, was a reversal of the Trump administration’s firing of furloughed federal workers, a deal to ensure that furloughed workers would get back pay and future protections for federal workers during shutdowns.

‘This was the only deal on the table,’ Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., one of the eight that crossed the aisle to support the package, said. ‘It was our best chance to reopen the government and immediately begin negotiations to extend the [Obamacare] tax credits that tens of millions of Americans rely on to keep costs down.’

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., another of the eight Senate Democrats to break with Schumer, said that it was clear that Republicans weren’t going to budge on their position that healthcare would be dealt with after the government reopened. 

But it wasn’t the guarantee of a vote on the expiring subsidies that got him to splinter, it was promises that there would be protections for federal employees. 

‘If you wait another week, they’re going to get hurt more, another month or even more,’ Kaine said. ‘So what got me over the line was the pledge that they were able to give the federal employees.’ 

On the House side, it appears GOP leaders are eager to move quickly on ending the prolonged shutdown.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., earlier Monday told Fox News Digital that he would bring the House back into session ‘immediately’ upon Senate passage of the legislation.

He later told House Republicans on a lawmaker-only call that he anticipated a vote in their chamber midweek at the earliest, Fox News Digital was told.

‘We’re going to plan on voting, on being here, at least by Wednesday,’ Johnson said. ‘It is possible that things could shift a little bit later in the week, but right now we think we’re on track for a vote on Wednesday. So we need you here.’

Johnson signaled the House would not move to fast-track the legislation via suspension of the rules however, which would bypass procedural hurdles in exchange for raising the passage threshold to two-thirds of the chamber.

It’s not a surprising move given House Democratic leaders’ opposition to the bill.

He said, however, that the House Rules Committee should be ready to move by Tuesday at the earliest.

Lawyers for roughly two dozen states will head to court Monday to block the Trump administration’s attempt to penalize them for making full payments to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. 

The filing is the latest in a chaotic, fast-moving legal saga centered on the status of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, which supports 42 million low-income Americans and remains stalled as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.  

‘Food assistance is not a political issue,’ New York Attorney General Letitia James told reporters Monday. ‘It is a moral imperative, and no one should go hungry because their own government is refusing to feed them.‘

The request for emergency intervention comes after the Trump administration on Saturday threatened to slap states who paid out the full SNAP benefits with steep economic penalties, despite an order from U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who ordered the administration to make the full SNAP payments fully available compared to just 65%, as had been previously outlined.

Trump officials further urged the Supreme Court in a supplemental brief Monday afternoon to keep in place an emergency stay handed down by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson last week. 

They cited the progress Congress has made towards resolving the ongoing shutdown, and added that, in their view, ‘the answer to this crisis is not for federal courts to reallocate resources without lawful authority.’ 

‘The only way to end this crisis — which the Executive is adamant to end — is for Congress to reopen the government,’ they added.

States have until tomorrow morning to file their response to the Supreme Court.

The judge had scolded the Trump administration for agreeing to fund just 65% of the SNAP benefits. ‘It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here,’ McConnell said Thursday shortly before issuing the new order, which gave the USDA less than 24 hours to comply. 

In appealing the case, Trump’s legal team had argued that the judge’s order ‘makes a mockery of the separation of powers,’ and accused McConnell of overstepping his powers as a federal judge.

‘There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,’ DOJ lawyers argued, describing his order as an ‘unprecedented injunction.’ 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states in a directive on Saturday that states that failed to comply with the administration’s plans and pay only the reduced SNAP benefits could see a cancellation of federal cost-sharing benefits for SNAP, and would be otherwise fully financially ‘responsible for the consequences’ of their actions.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin spoke out about the actions before heading to court today to seek emergency intervention. 

‘We’re asking the courts to block Saturday night’s guidance and immediately make full SNAP benefits available,’ Bonta said of the lawsuit. 

The group accused the Trump administration of playing politics with SNAP benefits, or the food aid that provides benefits to roughly one in eight Americans.

The New Jersey attorney general, Matt Platkin, described the effort by USDA to halt full SNAP payments and shift the costs to states as the ‘most heinous thing’ he had seen while in office. 

‘There are more children in New Jersey on SNAP than consists of the entire population of our state’s largest city,’ he said, in an effort to contextualize the number of people in the Garden State alone who are served by the food aid program. 

‘The new guidance from USDA ‘claimed that the steps we’ve taken to follow its earlier guidance and a court order were ‘unauthorized,’ and that we must immediately undo the actions, or we would face steep penalties,’ Bonta said. 

Trump officials separately told the Supreme Court on Monday that they will continue to seek their emergency stay of another federal judge’s order requiring them to keep SNAP benefits fully funded during the ongoing government shutdown.

The administration ‘still intends to pursue a stay’ of that order, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court in a filing, barring any eleventh-hour action from Congress to reach consensus and reopen the government after the more than 40-day government shutdown. 

Critics once called it isolationist. But national security experts now say Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ strategy is proving to be something else entirely — a hard-nosed policy of deterrence built on strong alliances, especially with Israel.

Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security and former chief of staff at the National Security Council, told Fox News Digital that ‘The America First approach to U.S. national security means a strong national security policy, a decisive president, keeping our nation out of unnecessary wars, having members of alliances carry their own weight, but it also means standing strongly with Israel and fighting antisemitism.’

He said supporting Israel is not about sentiment. ‘Standing with Israel is in our strategic interest,’ he said. ‘Israel is dealing with enemies in the region that the U.S. would have to deal with if it were not there. So it’s in our strategic interest.’

Israel as America’s forward defense

Mike Makovsky, CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), said Israel effectively absorbs threats that would otherwise demand U.S. military action. ‘Historically, there are about three reasons why we have interests in the region,’ he said. ‘One is Israel. Two is oil. And three is Islamic extremism — terrorism, Shia and Sunni.’

Makovsky said it is ironic that the America First debate has resurfaced ‘only a few months after Israel smoked America’s Mideast enemies.’ He pointed to Iran’s nuclear advances and the role of its proxies. ‘They’re building ballistic missiles… They could reach the eastern seaboard of the United States,’ he said. ‘You marry missiles with nukes that could hit the U.S. — you’ve got the North Koreans on the West Coast; do you really want Iran that could hit the East Coast?’

According to Makovsky, Israel’s campaign against those threats shows the alliance’s strategic value. ‘What did the Israelis just do? They took care of it. The United States came in with the B-2 at the very end… but it was Israel that did all that work,’ he said.

He added that Israel ‘pretty much finished off Hamas,’ weakened Hezbollah — ‘which has hundreds of American soldiers’ blood on their hands’ — and continues to confront the Houthis to ‘ensure freedom of navigation.’ That, he argued, is deterrence in action: ‘As long as we support Israel, we give them some help, we give them the weapons they need, they’re really doing our work.’

Countering Iran and its allies

Fleitz called Iran ‘the biggest threat,’ encompassing ‘Iran and Iran’s proxies in the region. This includes Hamas, Hezbollah in Syria, Iran-backed militias in Iraq, and then Iran itself, with its nuclear weapons program and its sponsorship of terror.’

He said Israel’s actions have ‘destroyed Hamas proxies and significantly weakened Iran,’ adding that ‘we joined Israel in June in taking on Iran’s nuclear program, which was a threat to global security.’

Both analysts framed Iran as part of a wider axis of power alongside Russia and China, each exploiting Middle East instability to undermine U.S. influence — by fueling proxy wars, spiking energy prices, and threatening trade routes through the Gulf and the Red Sea. Fleitz said Trump’s willingness to act decisively ‘to attack Iran’s nuclear program’ exemplified using strength to prevent costlier wars later.

Energy and economic security

Both agree that energy policy is where America First becomes measurable. Fleitz said that ‘energy independence is a very important part of President Trump’s America First policy to free Americans from high energy bills.’ At the same time, he noted, energy diplomacy abroad reinforces economic security at home. ‘By pushing the Saudis — and the Saudis, I think, are happy to help us with this — to produce more oil, it may actually help us end the war in Ukraine,’ he said.

Makovsky made a similar case for regional stability: ‘The biggest threat to the Gulf Arab oil exporters … is Iran,’ he said. Without Israel’s containment of Tehran, ‘Iran would have taken over the Middle East, most likely. And if you care about oil prices, that’s not too good.’

Both experts said that when Israel shoulders the burden of defending energy corridors and trade routes, Americans save in both dollars and deployments.

Avoiding unnecessary wars

Fleitz said Trump’s doctrine is about selective force, not retreat. ‘He wants to keep our country out of new and unnecessary wars, but he will use military force prudently to defend our national security,’ he said. ‘He is going to avoid sending American troops into certain situations and using military force. But that doesn’t mean he won’t do these things when it is in U.S. strategic interests.’

He pointed out U.S. personnel who are currently stationed in Israel but ‘they’re not going to Gaza’ and ‘will not be engaging in combat operations against Hamas.’ Their mission, he said, fits the model of minimal footprint, maximum leverage.

Credibility and global deterrence

Makovsky warned that abandoning Israel would erode America’s credibility worldwide. He recalled what a senior Arab leader once told him: ‘If America doesn’t help Israel attack the nuclear facilities of Iran, it will be one of the great catastrophes.’

‘That’s because everybody in the Mideast, everyone in Asia, knows that the U.S.–Israel relationship is one of the closest in the world,’ Makovsky said. ‘If we don’t help Israel, it undercuts our credibility. The Chinese and the Russians and the North Koreans know that if we’re not going to support Israel, we’re not going to help other allies … and it would make us more vulnerable to the Chinese without a doubt.’

Peace through strength

Fleitz said Trump’s ’20-point peace plan’ for Gaza exemplifies the America First balance between toughness and diplomacy. ‘It achieved its two primary objectives, getting all the living hostages out of Israel and enacting a ceasefire,’ he said, acknowledging that ‘the ceasefire is fairly shaky.’ The next step, he added, is ‘an international stabilization force’ — a complex process still under negotiation.

For both experts, the takeaway is the same: America First doesn’t mean isolation. It means strategic partnerships that keep U.S. troops out of long wars while preserving American dominance.

The Senate took a massive step forward on its way to reopening the government on Sunday, with a group of Senate Democrats caving and joining Republicans in their bid to pass a revamped plan to end the shutdown.

Signs that the shutdown, which entered its 40th day, could be ending became more and more clear as the day went on, particularly with the unveiling of a bipartisan package of spending bills that lawmakers hope to attach to a modified bill to reopen the government.

Eight Senate Democrats crossed the aisle to mark the first step in the GOP’s quest to end the shutdown. Many of the lawmakers that splintered from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., were among those engaged in bipartisan talks over the last several weeks.

Among the defectors were Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Jacky Rosen, D-N.M., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and the number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

‘The question was, does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits? Our judgment was that it will not,’ King said. ‘It would not produce that result. And the evidence for that is almost seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make that happen.’

Schumer and Senate Democrats long stayed the course that they would only vote to reopen the government in exchange for a solid deal on extending expiring Obamacare subsidies.

But the solution developed over the last several days included nothing of the sort. While there were some wins in the updated continuing resolution (CR), like reversals of some of the firings of furloughed workers undertaken by the Trump administration and guaranteeing back pay for furloughed workers, there was no guaranteed victory in sight on the Obamacare issue.

That means that Senate Democrats effectively caved with little to show for their healthcare push, save for the guarantee of a vote on the subsidies from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., which was reflected in the updated CR. 

Schumer panned the compromise deal, and charged that when Republicans rejected Democrats’ own counter-proposal that would have extended the expiring subsidies for a year, ‘They showed that they are against any health care reform.’

‘This healthcare crisis is so severe, so urgent, so devastating for families back home that I cannot, in good faith, support this CR that fails to address the healthcare crisis,’ Schumer said. 

Thune was optimistic that the plan would work, and reiterated his promise of a vote on the expiring subsidies. However, whatever legislation is produced to address the Obamacare issue is likely to fail. 

‘Regardless, as I have said for weeks to my Democrat friends, I will schedule a vote on their proposal, and I’ve committed to having that vote no later than second week in December,’ he said. 

Progressives in the caucus were unhappy with the developments, too.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, charged that it would be a ‘horrific mistake’ for Democrats to cave now without an Obamacare deal.

‘If Democrats cave on this issue, what it will say to Donald Trump is that he has a green light to go forward toward authoritarianism,’ Sanders said. ‘And I think that would be a tragedy for this country.’

Still, there is a long way to go before the government officially reopens.

Sunday’s vote was the first in a series needed in the Senate to modify the original House-passed continuing resolution and combine it with the three-bill spending package and updated CR, which, if passed, would reopen the government until Jan. 30, 2026.

Lawmakers hope that if given the extra time, they could finish funding the government with spending bills rather than turning to another CR or colossal omnibus spending package, which crams all 12 government funding bills into one piece of legislation.

‘If we blow this window, we’re going to get stuck with a yearlong CR,’ Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said.

And the shutdown won’t end in the Senate, given that the changes to the legislation will need to be greenlit by the House before making it to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Democrats could still extract pain through procedural hurdles unless there is unanimous agreement from all 100 senators to move forward with the remaining votes.

The Obamacare issue is still bubbling on both sides of the aisle, however. Senate Republicans slammed the state of healthcare throughout Saturday, particularly over how the subsidies funneled money to insurance companies.

Democrats still remained skeptical if their frustration, and desire to make changes to take on insurance companies, was legitimate.

‘The point, I think that’s really relevant here, is if they’re serious, and I really question whether that’s the case,’ Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.

There are now enough Senate Democrats willing to back a revamped plan to reopen the government. 

A source familiar with the newly-unveiled plan told Fox News Digital that there are enough Senate Democrats ready to join Republicans for a key vote Sunday night as Congress readies to reopen the government. 

The latest development comes after an updated continuing resolution was revealed that would reopen the government until Jan. 30, 2026, reverse firings of furloughed workers carried out by the Trump administration and ensure that furloughed workers get back pay. 

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, led the bipartisan deal, but a trio of Democratic caucus members, Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., proved crucial in striking a way forward. 

Lawmakers are expected to take the first of a trio of votes on reopening the government later Sunday night. But it will require action from the House before the closure is officially ended. 

Earlier in the day, Senate Republicans unveiled another crucial piece of the puzzle in their bid to reopen the government and plan to plow ahead with a vote on Sunday. 

While both sides still appear at an impasse on extending expiring Obamacare subsidies, appropriators moved ahead with a package of spending bills that Republicans hope will jumpstart the government funding process, and lead to an end to the 40-day government shutdown. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee released the three-bill spending package, known as a minibus, Sunday afternoon. Lawmakers are still waiting on text for an updated continuing resolution (CR), that, if passed, is expected to reopen the government until late January. 

It includes legislation that would fund military construction and the VA, the legislative branch and agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Senate Republicans view the package as a sweetener that they hope attracts enough Senate Democrats to break through the logjam and move toward reopening the government. And given that the minibus is a largely bipartisan product, lawmakers believe it could succeed. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., made clear in the last few days that he would not put a bill on the floor that did not have the votes to pass after spending several weeks daring Senate Democrats to vote against the original House-passed continuing resolution (CR). 

‘There’s going to be something to vote on, let’s put it that way,’ Thune said. 

Still, the package does not include a deal on Senate Democrats’ chief demand throughout the government shutdown to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. 

Thune has promised Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus a vote on the expiring subsidies after the government reopens. And for several weeks, Senate Democrats said that was not enough to assuage the concerns. 

Senate Democrats are expected to huddle Saturday night before a likely vote to plot a path forward. If Schumer and his caucus agree to the deal, they would effectively be caving from their deeply-entrenched position that has seen the government shutdown stretch over a month. 

Lawmakers will now have time to read over the bills, with a vote expected later Sunday evening. 

But, it’s just the first step in what could be a long and drawn-out process. First, Thune will tee up the original House-passed CR for a vote, which lawmakers view as the vehicle to attach the minibus and updated CR to. 

Then there will be two more votes before the package advances from the Senate. Then, it will have to go back to the House before making its way to President Donald Trump’s desk. 

Schumer and his caucus could still apply pain on the process, too, through procedural hurdles. And despite rumblings of some in the caucus ready to break ranks, some Republicans aren’t too optimistic that this will be an easy process. 

‘I don’t expect anything from the Democrats,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said. ‘At this point, their demands have been so ridiculous, I don’t know what they’re going to do, and at this point, I frankly, don’t give a crap.’