(schumer wasn’t the defector this time)
what we got:
a provision that would call federal workers who were laid off during the shutdown back to their jobs. It also would provide funds to ensure that federal workers who were furloughed during the shutdown can receive retroactive pay [(the latter as required by a 2019 law defector Angus King passed)].
The short-term spending bill would additionally bar the Office of Management and Budget from implementing any additional mass layoffs of federal workers through Jan. 30.
what we did not:
healthcare
Good that furloughed federal workers are getting called back and that retro pay is on the table, no one should have had to lose a paycheck because politicians wanted to play chicken. But this feels like triage, not governing. We fixed the immediate harm while leaving the root problem untouched.
Not getting healthcare in the deal is infuriating. That was the real leverage point and Democrats folded instead of using the shutdown as leverage to protect people who actually need care. This just normalizes ransom politics: shut the government, get bailed out, try again next time. Whoever thought rewarding that behavior was acceptable needs to be called out.