US Senate votes to end government shutdown

The US Senate on Monday voted to advance a three-week funding bill to reopen the federal government after a three-day shutdown.

According to The New York Times, Senate Democrats helped advance a stopgap bill after Repunblicans' pledge to continue immigration talks.

By a vote of 81-18, the Senate agreed to end the debate on a bill that would extend the government funding through February 8.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer reached a deal over government spending and immigration, reports Xinhua.

"After several discussions, offers and counteroffers, the Republican leader and I have come to an arrangement. We will vote today to reopen the government to continue negotiating a global agreement," Schumer was quoted as saying.

For the shutdown to end, the Senate and House of Representatives still have to pass the three-week funding bill, with final votes expected later in the day, and send it to US President Donald Trump for his signature.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Monday that Trump "is pleased to see Senator Schumer accept the deal that the president put on the table from the beginning."

The Trump administration will work toward "solving the problem of very unfair illegal immigration" once the government is funded, Sanders said.

"We will make a long term deal on immigration if and only if it's good for our country," she added.

The current government funding expired on Friday midnight as the Senate failed to advance a stopgap spending bill, which had passed the House of Representatives and would fund the government through February 16.

The shutdown, the first since 2013, cast a shadow over the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration on Saturday and forced him to cancel a planned weekend trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort in the state of Florida.

--IANS

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