AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The Senate approved legislation to reopen the government last night. The House is expected to vote on the package as early as tomorrow evening. But most Democrats are criticizing the deal for not delivering on their key demand, the renewal of expiring health care subsidies. NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh joins us now from the Capitol. Hi, Deirdre.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so for weeks now, we've been hearing about what the Democrats have been demanding, and that is they would not back a funding bill unless it included a plan to preserve these health care subsidies for the millions of people who rely on them. So what exactly changed when a group of Democrats got on board with Senate Republicans?
WALSH: Well, the talks about how to address these health care subsidies really started on the first day of the shutdown. That's according to New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who was part of this small group of moderate Democrats who negotiated this deal. But she told me and other reporters that the one thing that didn't change over the last six weeks was that Republicans were not changing their position at all, that they weren't going to negotiate on health care until the government reopened. She said yesterday the pain of federal workers not getting paid, people not receiving food assistance was only going to get worse, and they needed an off-ramp. She was 1 of 7 Democrats and one independent to join Republicans to vote for this deal that funds some programs through the end of January, includes some full-year funding for programs like SNAP and veterans' benefits, and reverses the layoffs of federal workers.
CHANG: All right. Yes. But what about health care? Like, what exactly did these Democrats get then?
WALSH: Not much. I mean, they got a commitment for a Senate vote by mid-December on a bill that they will write. Shaheen said she negotiated that directly with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. But there's no guarantee, even if the Senate could pass something, that the House Speaker Mike Johnson would put that on the House floor. But Shaheen says the White House was part of these discussions, and she pointed out that people in red states rely on these tax credits more than people in blue states.
JEANNE SHAHEEN: I think the president is going to engage. And if he isn't, well, shame on him. He says he's going to help even though he hasn't to date, but he says he's going to address affordability. Well, this is one of the big issues that are facing people in terms of affordability.
CHANG: Yeah. But the majority of Senate Democrats voted no. So I imagine a majority of Senate Democrats are not thrilled with this deal, right?
WALSH: Not at all. I mean, they are calling it a mistake. A lot of them are saying it undercuts the Democratic Party, which was mostly united over the course of the shutdown about making this fight all about health care. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said the message coming out of last week's off-year elections, where Democrats had some big wins in governors' races, was that voters wanted the party to stick together, and he even said that President Trump admitted the shutdown was hurting the GOP.
CHRIS MURPHY: This is a very, very hard moment. I am angry about how this went down.
WALSH: The top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, voted no on this deal, but there are still growing calls from some House Democrats, from Democrats running in Senate Democratic primaries for Schumer to step down from his leadership post. He was looped in on these talks, but they criticize him for not holding the party together.
CHANG: So what do you expect to see when the House votes on this package? Like, do you think any Democrats will back it?
WALSH: I think there will be a small number, but top House Democratic leaders are urging their party to stick together and vote no, force Republicans in the House to pass it without any real help from Democrats. It is expected to pass sometime tomorrow night, which could end, pretty soon, the longest shutdown in American history.
CHANG: That is NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Thank you, Deirdre.
WALSH: Thanks, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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