US House Set to Vote on Shutdown Deal as Flights Keep Falling From Sky

The United States appears to be nearing the end of its historic government shutdown, but the chaos in its skies continues.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday that the House of Representatives will vote “as soon as possible” after the Senate passed a spending bill to reopen the government. He told reporters that members should start returning to Washington “right now” and that he would give lawmakers 36 hours’ notice before the final vote.

“We applaud seven Senate Democrats and one independent senator who did the right thing,” Johnson said, referring to Sunday’s 60–40 Senate vote that marked the first real step toward ending the 42-day standoff — the longest shutdown in US history.

President Donald Trump endorsed the deal the next day. “The deal is very good,” he told reporters.

The bipartisan legislation funds government operations through January 30 and restores pay for hundreds of thousands of federal employees who have either been furloughed or forced to work without wages. It also ensures continued funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps.

But the bill punts a critical fight into December, whether to extend expiring healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Millions of Americans could see premiums more than double if the subsidies lapse.

“Democrats capitulating in a fight to lower costs will reverse all the brand gains they have made over the last few months,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative. “If they can’t do this, voters will be even more cynical. Two parties talk about affordability, but neither will fight to deliver it.”

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed to keep pushing the issue.

“This is not a partisan fight for us. This is a patriotic fight,” he said, noting that more Republicans than Democrats rely on ACA tax credits.

Republican strategist Adolfo Franco told Al Jazeera that Democrats are likely to get their way in December.

“There are Republicans in favour of extending the subsidies, so it is likely to pass,” he said.

Trump, meanwhile, reiterated his vision for a different kind of healthcare system.

“We want healthcare where we pay money to people, not healthcare companies,” he said.

While Congress inched closer to reopening the government, flight cancellations continued to pile up across the country.

Airlines cancelled more than 1,000 US flights on Monday, the fourth straight day of mass disruptions, as unpaid and overworked air traffic controllers continued to call in sick.

“The problem we have with air travel is that our air traffic controllers are overworked and unpaid and many of them have called in sick,” Johnson told reporters. “That’s a very stressful job and even more stressful exponentially when they’re having trouble providing for their families.”

Trump has urged controllers to return to work, threatening to dock pay for those who stay home and promising $10,000 bonuses for those who report for duty — though it remains unclear how those payments would be funded.