WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate was drawing closer to a vote Monday evening on legislation to end the shutdown after a small group of Senate Democrats broke a 40-day stalemate late Sunday evening and voted with Republicans to move forward with reopening the government.

Senators began debate on the bill just past nightfall. Senate Majority Leader John Thune set up a series of procedural votes and said he hoped final passage would take “hours not days.”

“The American people have suffered for long enough. Let’s not pointlessly drag this bill out,” he said as the Senate opened on Monday morning.

The legislation would still need to clear the House before the government could reopen. Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to start returning to Washington “right now” given travel delays, but he

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