End of shutdown ignites sparring among congressional lawmakers

The shutdown is over.

But jousting continues among Republicans and Democrats — including those from Washington state — over who’s to blame for the longest ever shuttering of the federal government. The 43-day political meltdown jeopardized families’ food benefits, snarled air travel and left some federal employees working without pay.

Wednesday evening, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the resolution 222-209 to fund parts of the federal government through the end of January and other parts through next fall. The Senate acted on Monday. President Donald Trump signed the legislation Wednesday night.

Washington state’s House delegation voted as anticipated: Republican U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside and Michael Baumgartner of Spokane supported the measure along with one Democratic defector, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Skamania County. Gluesenkamp Perez is known for breaking ranks with her party and faces a tough reelection fight next year.

The state’s other seven Democratic House members opposed the package.

“The performative tactics that we have watched over the last seven weeks have truly been a disservice to Americans,” Newhouse said in a floor speech before the final vote. “But the most important thing right now is that we get back to work making sure the federal government can provide the essential services that people depend on.”

In an interview, Newhouse said the lengthy shutdown didn’t help anybody and was glad some Democrats in the Senate “finally came to their senses” to open the government. “Republicans have been on the right of this from the beginning,” he said.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, was among the many Democrats offering rebuttals in the hourlong debate preceding the vote.

“This bill fails to address the fundamental needs of families across our country,” she said, blaming the rising cost of health care premiums on Republicans’ opposition to extending Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.

“President Trump and Republicans promised to lower costs on day one, and that’s been one big broken promise,” DelBene said.

The MGP factor

Gluesenkamp Perez’s vote was one of the more closely watched. She is one of her party’s most vulnerable members in next year’s midterm election because her 3rd Congressional District leans Republican. Trump won it in 2024.

Her vote wasn’t surprising. When the House passed its original short-term continuing resolution in September, she missed the vote but said she would have supported it.

In a statement Wednesday, she called the shutdown “a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress.”

“Americans can’t afford for their Representatives to get so caught up in landing a partisan win that they abandon their obligation to come together to solve the urgent problems that our nation faces,” she said.

Congress, she continued, needs to focus on the economy, health care and reestablishing “a truly deliberative democracy. I’ll work with whoever is necessary to reach those goals – and I don’t give a damn which side of the aisle they sit on,” she said.

Gluesenkamp Perez’s vote didn’t cost her the backing of DelBene, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm of House Democrats.

“The reason we win is because we have representatives who are authentic to their communities,” DelBene said. “Unlike Republicans who are blindly loyal to Donald Trump, we have representatives who are going to make the decisions they think are best for their community.”

Shasti Conrad, chair of the state Democratic Party, said Gluesenkamp Perez’s focus on affordability and cost of living is the playbook that led to Democratic victories in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia this month.

Gluesenkamp Perez “will be a linchpin for Democrats to retake control of the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections,” Conrad said.

Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Tacoma, skewered the Democratic senators who helped pass the continuing resolution. But she stood by her House colleague who sided with Republicans.

“She knows her district better than anyone, and we need her in the House,” Strickland said.

‘I am really proud’

Baumgartner gave a nod to the six House Democrats who crossed over.

“The Democrats’ decision to shut down the government was a monumental waste of time that hurt a lot of people,” he said. “I thank the Democrats who were willing to work across the aisle to end this needless shutdown and put country over party.”

There are hard feelings between some Democrats in each chamber, as they look to unite on the issue of health care and extending the tax credits.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, a leading progressive voice in the caucus, who opposed the resolution, said on social media that Senate Democrats “should not have caved.” She’s among a clutch of House Democrats supporting the ouster of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer as Senate minority leader.

“I am really proud of House Democrats who stood up and fought back and refused to cave, and have been the wind behind the sails to make sure that the Senate held out as long as they did,” she said on social media. “This was a righteous fight for the health care of the American people.”

Up next

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, has said the Senate will hold a vote by mid-December on the issue of health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, are reportedly negotiating on the content of what will reach the floor.

House Democrats want a three-year extension of the tax credits and are trying to get a majority of the chamber to sign onto a petition to force a vote on the proposal.

DelBene said many Republicans have said they think the tax credits need to be extended.

“If they’re serious about that, they have the opportunity to join us to move that legislation forward,” she said.

Newhouse said he’s open to further debate on health care.

“What’s called the Affordable Care Act has become an unaffordable care law,” he said. “I don’t see a clean extension happening. There would have to be some reforms instituted.”

This story was originally published in the Washington State Standard.