ATLANTA — The government shutdown could end on Wednesday. Members of Congress, including those from Georgia, are heading back to Washington, DC., to take that vote.
Eight Senate Democrats joined with Republicans and voted to end the shutdown on Monday. Senate Democrats didn’t get what they wanted, negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act health care subsidies.
Now the measure moves to the House, and the vote will probably go down party lines.
Many members of the Georgia delegation couldn’t talk on Tuesday because they were traveling back to Washington.
But Democrat Rep. Lucy McBath did.
She told Channel 2’s Karyn Greer that House Democrats will demand an agreement to lower health care costs.
“So, the House Democrats, we’ve been very, very clear from the beginning that we want a bipartisan funding agreement that lowers their health care costs,” McBath said.
House Republicans are weighing in, too.
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Rep. Mike Collins said in a social media post, “The Senate has officially passed the clean, non-partisan continuing resolution. The end of the Schumer shutdown is near.”
“I think the perception in the media is going to be the democrats caved,” University of North Georgia Political Science Professor Nathan Price told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.
He believes Republicans won the 41-day shutdown, and so does University of Georgia Political Science Professor Charles Bullock.
“Right now, it looks like the Republicans are the winners, yeah. The Democrats didn’t get what they, yeah, they’re drawing the line in the sand and said that this is necessary,” Bullock said.
But Democrats will have some opportunities with the House vote.
And Price points out, this will only keep the government funded through the end of January, so we could all be right back here again in 2026.
“I think really no one wins in these issues, and we all lose until we come up with a plan to confront issues in a more sort of civilized manner,” Price said.
Elliot reached out to both Georgia Sens. Ossoff and Warnock for comment after the Senate passage, but didn’t get one.
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