WASHINGTON – The longest-ever government shutdown is on the verge of ending, as food aid benefits are in limbo and flight cancellations and delays disrupt travelers.

The U.S. Senate on Sunday took the first big step toward voting on a bipartisan deal reached between some Democrats, Republicans and President Donald Trump's White House that would fully reopen the government until Jan. 30.

The agreement would also keep various other federal programs, including for food stamps and veterans' benefits, funded through next year.

The decision by a group of moderate Senate Democrats to defect from the rest of their party marked the biggest turning point since the shutdown began on Oct. 1 - and it's causing them some immediate political blowback.

For weeks, pain has been steadily growing for millions of Americans, ratcheting up pressure on lawmakers to come together. Air travel has been flung into chaos as flight cancellations and delays wreaked havoc over the weekend. Federal transportation officials warned air travel will get worse if the shutdown continues.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday directed states to reverse course on helping provide food aid benefits, in the latest back-and-forth over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) since funding lapsed for the first time in history earlier this month after a U.S. Supreme Court order.

The Senate is expected to vote again on Monday, Nov. 10.

House will vote 'as soon as possible' to reopen government, Johnson says

House Speaker Mike Johnson said representatives would vote “as soon as possible” on the Senate compromise to reopen the government, but hopefully this week.

The House had previously approved a temporary spending bill to keep the government open until Nov. 21. But most Senate Democrats blocked the legislation while urging greater spending on health care.

The House has been out since before the shutdown began Oct. 1, waiting for the Senate to act. Johnson, R-Louisiana, said the Senate can only act swiftly by unanimous consent, so it might take several days for that chamber to send the bill to the House.

“At the very moment that they hold that final vote, I will call all House members to return to Washington as quickly as possible,” Johnson said. “We’ll give a 36-hour formal and official notice so that we can vote as soon as possible.”

Johnson spoke to reporters without taking questions. But he urged fellow lawmakers to begin returning to Washington to complete work such as the remaining spending bills to cover most departments beyond the temporary patch.

“To all my colleagues – Democrats and Republicans in the House – you need to begin right now returning to the Hill,” Johnson added. “We look forward to the government reopening this week so Congress can get back to its regular legislative session.”

– Bart Jansen

'We need to get this economy moving again.' Democrat explains shutdown vote.

As Democrats who voted to end the shutdown come under fire by members of their own party for not including a provision to extend health care subsidies, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said the agreement “gives us an opportunity to continue that fight.”

Shaheen was among eight Democrats who voted for a compromise bill to end the shutdown. During a Fox News interview on Monday, she highlighted a provision in the bill that requires a vote in December on separate legislation extending health care subsidies.

“We’re going to have a vote, and I believe there are a number of Republicans who are going to join us in trying to address health care costs for Americans, but we’re also turning the government back on,” Shaheen said.

“We need to get this economy moving again,” she added. “That’s what I’m focused on, as well as making sure we get a vote and do something about the cost of health care for millions of Americans.”

– Zac Anderson

Voter reacts to moderate Democrats voting to end shutdown

Linda Lowell, a Democrat from the rural Virginia town of Weems, called a vote by a few Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, to end the government shutdown without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies a “drop in the ocean of disappointment.”

“Too many people are suffering. The point has been made that it's the Republicans who did it, and now I think the Republicans are just going have to wear the loss of the a ACA credits and the fiasco over SNAP,” she said.

She said she appreciates that it was a tough choice.

“It's tough because everybody is now going to have to just respond to their own conscience and their own sensitivity to the suffering of employees who are not getting paid,” Lowell said.

– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy

Stocks look set to open sharply higher amid Senate shutdown deal

U.S. stock futures popped Monday after the Senate vote cleared a path to re-open the government.

At 9:00 Eastern, futures tied to the broad S&P 500 were up 1%, or about 65 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average looked set to add 177 points or 0.4%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.5% or 386 points.

Stocks have weathered the shutdown well so far, but there are some signs of strain among publicly-traded companies with links to government spending.

On an earnings call in late October, defense contractor General Dynamics said it was managing uncertain cash flow with short-term borrowing. CEO Phebe Novakovic told analysts that “the longer (the shutdown) lasts, the more it will impact us, particularly the shorter cycle businesses. Forecasts in this environment are difficult at best and less reliable than one would hope.”

Still, an analysis from FactSet shows that with most of earnings season complete, the percentage of S&P 500 companies reporting positive earnings surprises is above the 10-year average.

– Andrea Riquier

Will federal workers get back pay? What's in the shutdown deal.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the head of the Appropriations Committee, said the temporary funding bill to reopen the government will provide back pay to all federal workers.

The measure includes a package of three spending bills – for military construction and veterans, agriculture, and the legislative branch – that received bipartisan support from the Senate on Aug. 1.

“Under our legislation, all federal employees, including members of our military and Coast Guard, Capitol Police officers, Border Patrol agents, TSA screeners, air traffic controllers – all will receive their back wages,” Collins said on the Senate floor on Sunday.

The agriculture portion of that measure provides full-year funding SNAP food benefits and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. That means those programs wouldn’t be vulnerable to being cut off in another shutdown if lawmakers reach an impasse on Jan. 30.

“One of the most unfortunate and shameful consequences of this shutdown has been that these vital nutrition programs were in jeopardy for our most vulnerable families, including 170,000 Mainers who rely on the SNAP program,” Collins added.

– Bart Jansen

Daughter running for Congress blasts shutdown deal approved by mom

The deal to end the government shutdown isn’t just dividing Democrats, it’s dividing families.

Stefany Shaheen, a Democrat running for Congress in New Hampshire and the daughter of retiring Granite State Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, blasted the shutdown deal because it doesn’t include a provision demanded by many Democrats to extend federal health care subsidies.

“We need to both end this shutdown and extend” the health care subsidies, Stefany Shaheen wrote on social media. “Otherwise, no deal.”

Jeanne Shaheen was among eight Democrats who approved the shutdown deal. Her daughter is running in the Democratic primary to replace U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Jeanne Shaheen.

Many Democrats are blasting the shutdown deal, which could become an issue in the primary where Stefany Shaheen is running against five other Democrats.

– Zac Anderson

Trump admin. must tell Supreme Court if it’s still seeking intervention on SNAP benefits

The Trump administration must tell the Supreme Court today if it wants to the justices to pause an appeal court’s decision that it must pay full SNAP food benefits for November.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued that order Monday morning after the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Sunday backed a federal judge’s order that the food stamp program be fully funded this month despite the government shutdown.

Jackson, on Friday, had briefly paused the judge’s order. But she set that order to expire 48 hours after the appeals court’s decision.

If the administration appeals, Jackson set a Tuesday morning deadline for the cities, nonprofit groups and others challenging the administration to respond. The administration’s emergency request Friday was handled by Jackson because she has responsibility for requests in that part of the country.

It’s unclear if a possible congressional deal to end the government shutdown will end the need for the legal challenges.

– Maureen Groppe

Fetterman calls shutdown a ‘failure’

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvnia, who voted repeatedly with Republicans to reopen the government, apologized to Capitol police officers who worked without pay during the shutdown and to SNAP recipients whose food benefits were delayed.

“It should’ve never come to this,” Fetterman said in a statement. “This was a failure.”

– Bart Jansen

SNAP food benefits in limbo while shutdown deal proceeds

Federal food aid would be funded through 2026 at higher levels under a deal to reopen the government, but for now the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is still in limbo.

The SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, lapsed this month for the first time in the program’s 60-year history. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to pay the monthly food benefits in full, but the Supreme Court paused the ruling Nov. 7, allowing the government to make partial payments.

The legal wrangling left 42 million Americans who receive the benefits on edge heading into the weekend, waiting to see how much assistance they would get, and when.

– Zac Anderson

Travelers face more flight cancellations, delays

Travelers are facing thousands of flight cancellations and delays on Monday as restrictions imposed by federal transportation officials tied to the historic government shutdown stretch into a fourth day.

The disruptions come after more than 10,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed on Sunday, according to FlightAware, marking the most disruptions on a single day since the government shutdown began.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the same day that air travel chaos will only get worse as the country heads into the busy holiday travel season. Even if lawmakers finalize the deal to reopen the government this week, travelers shouldn’t expect operations at the nation’s airports to immediately return to normal.

– N’dea Yancey-Bragg

Shutdown deal helps laid off federal workers

Thousands of laid off federal workers would keep their jobs as part of a deal to end the federal government shutdown.

The Trump administration initiated layoffs on Oct. 10, citing a need to trim costs during the shutdown, but they were paused by a federal judge in California. The judge also halted any pending layoffs.

In addition to reversing the layoffs, the shutdown deal prohibits new layoffs through Jan. 30.

– Zac Anderson

‘Malpractice’: Democrats divided over shutdown compromise

Democrats are divided over the Senate compromise to reopen the government with just the assurance of a vote to extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, even as SNAP food benefits were being cut off and flight disruptions peaked.

Most Senate Democrats opposed ending the shutdown unless tax credits for the program also known as Obamacare, which are set to expire Dec. 31, were extended. But eight senators who caucus with Democrats joined Republicans in ending the impasse

“Making this deal is malpractice,” New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill said in a statement.

“Pathetic,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in a one-word post on X.

But most Senate Democrats stuck to their opposition to the compromise.

“I cannot support a deal that still leaves millions of Americans wondering how they are going to pay for their health care or whether they will be able to afford to get sick," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia.

– Joey Garrison and Bart Jansen

Which 8 Democrats voted to advance the spending bill?

In a major shift, senators late Sunday night cleared a procedural hurdle to begin the process of ending the shutdown.

Along with most other Republicans, seven Democrats and one independent senator (Maine's Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats) voted to move toward advancing a funding agreement that could reopen the government as soon as this week.

Here is the full list of Democrats who voted for the spending bill:

  • Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada
  • Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada
  • Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire
  • Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire
  • Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois
  • Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia
  • Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
  • Sen. Angus King of Maine

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, voted against the measure.

What happens next?

Now that some Democrats have signaled new support for reopening the government, Congress has to clear a number of procedural hurdles.

When the new funding deal passes the Senate, which could come as soon as Monday, the package will then have to pass the House of Representatives, which hasn't taken a vote in weeks. Lawmakers in the House have been put on a 36-hour return notice, so it would likely take several days (barring any travel issues lawmakers might experience) for them to pass any Senate bills.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, indicated last week he didn't think the shutdown would last past Thanksgiving.

What's in the deal?

The agreed-to deal would reopen the government until Jan. 30. It would also include full-year funding for several agencies and programs, including food aid and veterans' benefits. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would continue through September at higher levels.

Another component of the agreement includes a commitment to a vote in the second week of December on a bill to potentially extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. The tax credits, which millions of Americans rely on for help paying premiums, have been the issue at the center of the shutdown fight.

In addition, the deal will reverse the layoffs of thousands of federal workers, while barring any potential firings until Jan. 30. The terminations have been temporarily barred by a federal court.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats divided on shutdown deal amid SNAP lapse, flight cancellations. Live updates.

Reporting by Zachary Schermele, Kathryn Palmer, Zac Anderson and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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