One of the eight Senate Democrats who voted with Republicans to end the government shutdown was persuaded with the help of one GOP senator, who won him over by promising to strip one of President Donald Trump's unpopular policies out of the final bill.
That's according to a Tuesday article by Punchbowl News' Andrew Desiderio, who reported that Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) worked with Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) on a provision preventing the Trump administration from implementing mass firings of federal workers. Initially, the White House was resistant to the proposal, but Desiderio reported that Britt served as a key "go-between" to secure the deal that may end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
As a Senate Democrat, Kaine has typically been a reliable vote against Trump's policies and appointments. But as Virginia's junior U.S. senator, Kaine (who was 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's running mate) represents roughly 320,000 federal workers, who have all either been furloughed or forced to work without pay as essential employees for the past 41 days. Desiderio noted that Britt's promise to include a ban on reductions-in-force ultimately won him over.
"I said, ‘Thank you for helping convince the White House on the RIFs,’” Kaine told Punchbowl. “They really did not want to do it ... And I said, ‘I’m a no if you don’t do that.’”
Britt told Desiderio that she conducted multiple late-night calls with Republican leadership to convince them to include the anti-RIF provision in the final legislation, and that despite Kaine's opposition to Trump, she knew he ultimately wanted to make sure his constituents could get back to work and be compensated for more than a month of unpaid labor.
"The question was put on the table — how can they be guaranteed backpay, how can they be guaranteed ... getting their job back, making sure they can maintain it,” Britt said. “Those were all conversations that drew Sen. Kaine to the table as he fought for the people he serves.”
"We need opportunities to work together and to build trust, and I felt like this was a good way to do that," she added.
The legislation is now headed to the House of Representatives, where House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has promised to oppose it as it does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that Democrats fought for in the last month of negotiations. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not promised a House vote on restoring the ACA tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of 2025 and cause a significant spike in health insurance premiums.
Click here to read Desiderio's full report in Punchbowl News.