“For months and months Democrats have been fighting to get the Senate to address the healthcare crisis,” said Chuck Schumer, the party’s leader in the Senate.
“This bill does nothing to ensure that that crisis is addressed,” he said as he confirmed he would vote against the deal.
Some high-profile Democrats have been highly critical of colleagues who sided with Republicans to end the shutdown without concrete guarantees on healthcare, with California Governor Gavin Newsom calling the decision “pathetic”.
The measure also includes three appropriations bills to fund agencies like veterans affairs and agriculture, as well as a continuing resolution to finance the rest of the government until 30 January – meaning another government shutdown could be on the horizon early next year.
It also includes guarantees that all federal workers will be paid for time during the shutdown, and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) – an essential food safety net for one in eight Americans – until next September.
A vote on the deal would only be the first procedural step in the new funding agreement and it would still need to be approved by the US House of Representatives, where it is likely to see its own challenges.
