House Republicans raced back to Washington as an amended continuing resolution that cleared the Senate moved toward a decisive House vote, with members juggling travel plans and floor procedures to break a 43-day impasse and avert further disruption to federal operations.

Floor Dash: As Funding Bill Clears Important Hurdle, House Members Scramble to Get Back to DC for Vote

The Senate approved an amended continuing resolution by a 60-40 margin, setting up a final House vote that could end what many on the right call the Schumer Shutdown after 43 days. The House Rules Committee pushed the bill through on a party-line vote in the small hours, clearing the path for a procedural rule vote on the full House floor.

Democrats pushed to attach amendments tied to temporary expansions of Obamacare subsidies created during the COVID-19 era, but those efforts failed in committee. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries made a public plea for a three-year extension of those subsidies, yet the Rules Committee denied his request even as debate grew heated.

The Rules Committee hearing ran about six hours and featured repeated clashes between party members, with Democrats accusing Republicans of leaving town during the shutdown and stripping away health benefits. The sharpest back-and-forth came when House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., fired back at criticism of lawmakers’ schedules.

The lengthy hearing saw members on opposite sides of the aisle clash several times as well, with Democrats repeatedly accusing Republicans of robbing Americans of their healthcare and taking a “vacation” for several weeks while remaining in their districts during the shutdown.

“I am sick and tired of hearing you all say we had an eight-week vacation,” House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said at one point. “I worked every day. I don’t know about you. I don’t want to hear another soul say that.”

After an 8-4 committee vote, the measure advanced to the full House where leaders prepared a rule vote to allow final debate and amendment procedures. House Republicans signaled confidence the amended CR would secure passage and head to the president for signature.

“We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” the president said when asked whether he would sign the bill, a short statement intended to reassure nervous members and the public that the impasse was close to ending. That endorsement matters because the bill’s quick enactment would restore routine government functions and free delayed federal activity.

Logistical headaches complicated the timing: Speaker Mike Johnson warned members they had 36 hours to return to Washington, emphasizing the importance of being present for the key procedural and final votes. The warning came after the Senate experienced a nail-biting moment when a delayed senator raced from an airport to cast the decisive 60th vote, a scenario lawmakers hoped to avoid in the House.

Practical travel concerns drove members to unusual choices. Representative Derrick Van Orden rode a motorcycle through bitterly cold parts of the Midwest to ensure he would be on the floor, a dramatic example of how seriously some lawmakers viewed the timing and stakes.

Other members took less rugged approaches while still hedging against delays; Representative Dan Crenshaw purchased multiple plane tickets to give himself options amid possible cancellations. Those individual decisions reflected a broader scramble to make sure quorums could be met and votes could be counted without repeat chaos.

The House planned to begin the next roll-call sequence around 4 p.m. eastern, with leadership expecting a relatively swift series of procedural steps followed by the final passage vote. Even with optimism from proponents, uncertainty over last-minute objections or surprise amendments lingered among both parties.

The politics around the shutdown remained sharp: critics on the right framed the standoff as manufactured by Senate Democrats for leverage, while Democrats blamed Republican tactics and accused GOP leaders of prioritizing politics over people. The tone in committee and on the floor reflected that divide, even as the mechanics of returning to normal federal funding dominated the calendar.

Editor’s Note: After more than 40 days of screwing Americans, a few Dems have finally caved. The Schumer Shutdown was never about principle—just inflicting pain for political points.