After 43 grueling days of a government shutdown—the longest in U.S. history—a glimmer of bipartisan sanity finally broke through.
The Hill reported that on Wednesday, six House Democrats crossed party lines to vote with Republicans, passing a funding measure by a tight 222-209 margin to end the deadlock that left federal workers furloughed and Americans without food assistance.
This shutdown, a stubborn standoff that dragged on for over a month, held the nation hostage over political posturing.
The six Democrats who sided with Republicans—Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Adam Gray of California, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Tom Suozzi of New York—provided the crucial votes needed to reopen the government.
While House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana welcomed the support, it wasn’t all roses on the right, as two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida, voted against the measure.
Massie, known for his consistent pushback on spending levels, and Steube, irked by a provision tied to January 6 litigation, couldn’t be swayed even by their own party’s leadership.
Interestingly, nearly all of these Democrat defectors are staring down tough reelection battles in the upcoming midterms, with seats rated as competitive or even “likely Republican” by the Cook Political Report.
Take Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, whose district is a “toss-up”—she’s walking a tightrope, and voting to end the shutdown might just be her way of showing constituents she’s not beholden to progressive dogma.
“The fight to stop runaway health insurance premiums won’t be won by holding hungry Americans hostage,” Perez declared on X, a statement dripping with frustration at her party’s hardline stance. Nice sentiment, but let’s be real: this vote was as much about political survival as it was about principle.
On the flip side, Rep. Greg Steube’s opposition stemmed from a specific grievance—a provision allowing senators to profit from litigation over phone records tied to the January 6 Capitol probe.
“There is no reason the House should have been forced to eat this garbage to end the Schumer Shutdown,” Steube fumed on X. Fair point, but with thousands of families struggling without federal support, one wonders if this was the hill to die on.
Speaker Johnson, ever the diplomat, promised to introduce legislation to repeal the offending provision, a move that might placate the dissenters without derailing the broader victory.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York led the bulk of Democrats in opposing the funding package, citing the lack of protections for expiring ObamaCare subsidies as a dealbreaker.
It’s a classic case of prioritizing ideological battles over practical solutions, leaving everyday Americans caught in the crossfire of partisan gridlock. While the concern over healthcare costs isn’t baseless, holding up relief for furloughed workers and hungry families feels like a misstep in a nation weary of endless D.C. drama.