House Returns After Long Recess to Take Up Bill to End Shutdown

Politics|House Returns After Long Recess to Take Up Bill to End Shutdown

The House of Representatives will finally return to session on Wednesday after a hiatus that stretched on for 54 days, as lawmakers take up legislation that would end the longest government shutdown in American history.

The bill, which passed the Senate on Monday and has President Trump’s support, has sizable momentum on Day 43 of the shutdown, and its approval by the House would clear it for Mr. Trump’s signature. But Republicans’ narrow margin of control and strong opposition from most Democrats are likely to make for an uncomfortably close vote.

It comes as the House crawls back to life with an agenda that is much the same as it was when the chamber last convened on Sept. 19, and Republicans passed a plan to temporarily fund the government. Then, Speaker Mike Johnson called an indefinite recess, arguing that there was no reason for the House to meet until Senate Democrats accepted his party’s proposal.

For weeks, the House lay mostly dormant, with no legislation considered, no hearings held and no debate on the floor. While the representatives went on break — one they have been quick to frame as working from home rather than a nearly two-month vacation — hundreds of thousands of federal workers went without pay, millions of low-income Americans wondered whether they would receive food assistance and exasperated air travelers dealt with disruptions.

Mr. Johnson, who has held near-daily news conferences at the Capitol during the shutdown, is hoping that the House will quickly take up and pass the Senate’s measure to reopen the government.

That legislation, passed on Monday, would fund the government through Jan. 30 and includes spending bills that cover programs related to agriculture, military construction, veterans and legislative agencies for most of next year. The measure also includes a provision that would restore the jobs of federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown and guarantee back pay for those who were furloughed.

But several challenges may lie in store. Mr. Johnson presides over a very slim majority. He must keep Republicans largely united around the spending package, given the nearly solid opposition of Democrats who are livid that it fails to meet their chief demand of extending federal health care subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.

Mr. Johnson, who routinely leans on Mr. Trump to help him corral his fractious rank and file for close votes, has stressed that the spending legislation is a priority of the president, who has indicated that he would sign it. So far, a group of fiscal conservatives who ideologically oppose stopgap spending bills appear to be on board. Still, at several points, members of that group have thrown up unexpected roadblocks, and Mr. Johnson may have to contend with their complaints.

Given the prospect of a tight vote, Mr. Johnson is also likely to need every Republican member to return. Action, which House leaders have said may begin late Wednesday afternoon, could be delayed as lawmakers contend with the mounting air travel problems that have been one of the most visible consequences of the shutdown fight.

Democrats — who have returned to the Capitol in large groups at various points throughout the shutdown — are hoping to limit defections to increase the pressure on Republicans. Representative Jared Golden of Maine backed the G.O.P. plan in September and is likely to do so this week, while Henry Cuellar of Texas, has said he supports reopening the government quickly.

Democrats’ ranks will be bolstered after Mr. Johnson swears in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, the Arizona Democrat who was elected seven weeks ago, whom he had refused to seat.

Citing precedent, the speaker declined to swear her during a House recess that he called and prolonged.

Democrats have cried foul, pointing to Ms. Grijalva’s pledge to add her name to a bipartisan petition to force a vote on a measure demanding that the Trump administration release files connected to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

As it stands, Ms. Grijalva would provide the last necessary signature for the petition, which the White House opposes, to move ahead. That will create another headache that Mr. Johnson and Republican leaders will have to contend with in the weeks ahead.