President Donald Trump ended the longest-ever US government shutdown Wednesday night when he signed a Senate-crafted deal just one hour after the House passed it, in spite of 11th-hour outrage over a provision poised to enrich members of the upper chamber.
Republicans and Democrats alike slammed the language, which would allow some senators to sue the Justice Department after it accessed their phone records.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who panned it as “out of line,” promised a vote next week on scrapping the proposal.
That wasn’t enough to appease some, who pointed out the Senate may not take up the bill.
But it didn’t matter: Six Democrats voted with all but two Republicans to pass the package of three full-year appropriations bills and an extension of other funding levels through January (but no concessions from House Republicans on health care).
Lawmakers now face “a very aggressive calendar,” Johnson said, after missing weeks of session.