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It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

WHAT IS IN THIS SHUTDOWN DEAL?
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

The nation is on the verge of shaking off its longest government shutdown in history.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Monday night to end the shutdown by a vote of 60-40, with seven Democrats and one independent ([link removed]) voting with Republicans to get the package over filibuster blocks.

The deal came together in spurts. Appropriators spent long days hammering out three specific attached spending bills that helped some senators get on board. Separately, a small group of 11 Democratic caucus members met repeatedly to see if they could find a way to support an end to the shutdown.

By vote time, eight of them remained.

So what is in this thing? First, the big headlines. This deal:
* Funds most of the government through Jan. 30.
* Funds the Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction, the Department of Agriculture, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Congress itself through September 2026.
* Orders that states be reimbursed for any federal expenses they paid during the shutdown. (That includes states that paid for SNAP benefits during the shutdown.)
* Reverses mass layoffs of federal workers during the shutdown and blocks new mass layoffs until the end of January.

Last night, I took the time to read through the specifics more closely. The deal is a combination of four separate parts.
* The “Continuing Appropriations Act” to fund most agencies through Jan. 30. Here is a summary. ([link removed]) And the full text, ([link removed]) which is 31 pages long.
* Agriculture and FDA appropriations. Summary is here, ([link removed]) while the full 141-page text can be read here. ([link removed])
* Veterans and military construction appropriations. Summary is here. ([link removed]) The full 92-page text can be read here. ([link removed])
* Legislative branch appropriations, meaning for Congress. Summary is here ([link removed]) The full 64-page text can be found here. ([link removed])

In total, it is 328 pages of legislative text. If you read all the documents, including explanatory statements, that stacks up to a good bit more. But it’s not that long by modern “big bill” standards.

A few things stood out beyond the headlines.

Mass layoffs during the shutdown. The bill orders these be reversed quickly, within five days of this bill becoming law.

Security. There is a cargo plane’s worth of cash being infused into security for officials.
* U.S. Marshals. $30 million extra to protect judges and executive branch officials for the next two fiscal years.
* Supreme Court. An additional $28 million for the justices’ security.
* U.S. Capitol Police. $30 million for mutual aid and training, as well as a $45 million increase over last year’s funding.
* Members of Congress. About $203 million for member security, distributed via each chamber.

Senators can sue. Noticeably left out of both the summary and the explanatory statement for the legislative appropriations bill is Section 213 of the bill. (Pg. 52 of the text. ([link removed]) ) This orders that any phone or other communication providers must tell a Senate office if prosecutors have asked for disclosure of Senate data. And senators can sue for $500,000 ([link removed]) if this does not happen, including retroactively to 2022.

This seems to allow lawsuits ([link removed]) from eight Republican senators whose data was subpoenaed in 2023 as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 probe of President Donald Trump and the 2021 Capitol attack. The Republican senators only learned of this move this year, infuriating them.

Earmarks. The bill contains scores and scores of earmarks, or “community projects” designated by lawmakers for their states or districts. The easiest way to see these are in the accompanying explanatory statements. In the USDA statement ([link removed]) , go to page 35. In the Veterans and Military Construction statement ([link removed]) , go to page 33.

A few odds and ends.
* Ban on unregulated hemp products. The bill contains a wide-reaching ban on hemp products ([link removed]) with THC in them. These had been intentionally unregulated but some lawmakers had criticized them as unexpectedly intoxicating and dangerous in the years since. The industry is railing against the move, claiming it could suffocate their businesses, with some saying it is causing “a lot of panic.” ([link removed])
* WIC. The program providing nutrition to millions of low-income mothers, infants and children gets a funding increase of $603 million, to a total $8.2 billion. This means all eligible individuals should get full benefits.
* Military construction. The military received an increase of $844 million over Trump’s budget request for “critical infrastructure investments.” That’s $1.1 billion over its most recent funding level.
* New Chinese technology ban. The VA is banned in the bill from buying technology from listed Chinese manufacturers.

And there is much more. These are just some of the highlights.

What’s next. These bills are like onions — keep peeling and we will find more.

Meantime, watch the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening. That is when this bill is scheduled for a likely final vote in Congress.
More on politics from our coverage:
* Read: 8 Democrats voted with Republicans on the shutdown deal. The Associated Press compiled each of their reasons ([link removed]) as to why.
* One Big Question: What did both parties get from this deal? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss. ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: Trump pardons dozens of allies ([link removed]) who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
* Perspectives: FDA head explains the agency’s decision to drop “black box” warnings ([link removed]) from menopause hormone treatment.

2 DEMOCRATIC SENATORS ON THE BREAKTHROUGH SHUTDOWN DEAL
[link removed]

Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

The deal brokered by some Senate Democrats to end the longest shutdown in U.S. history sent shockwaves through the party.

The deal, as Lisa outlines above, was brokered by seven moderate Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the party. None are facing reelection in 2026. The deal does not guarantee the extension of expiring health care subsidies that Democrats had been fighting for across 41 days.

The criticism was swift, especially from the progressive wing of the party and some moderates.

The big question was: Why now? Democrats had decisive victories on Election Day, momentum that could have worked in their favor to secure the Affordable Health Care subsidies.

For the group of Democrats who reached across the aisle for this deal, there was no other path in view. ([link removed])
[link removed]
Watch the segment in the player above.
“I looked at the lay of the land that day, and it was obvious there was no path forward on health care unless we opened the government,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told PBS News Hour on Monday, adding that he was concerned about the millions of people whose SNAP benefits were disrupted by the Trump administration.

“We needed to change the equation,” Kaine added.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., voted against the deal. He said there was mounting pressure on Trump and Republicans as more Americans got sticker shock on how much their premiums were increasing this year.
[link removed]
Watch the segment in the player above.
“President Trump is likely to be emboldened ([link removed]) by winning the acquiescence of eight Democrats,” he told News Hour. “His illegality is likely to grow.”

Murphy added that Democrats will need to find a way to come together “because we're going to have even tougher, more important fights ahead of us on health care, on the president's unconstitutionality, on his illegal war-making overseas.”
THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION
[link removed]

Tiny memorial crosses are seen during the Armistice Day service in Princes St Gardens, Edinburgh. Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images
By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

Tuesday is Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, now known as Veterans Day in the U.S. All commemorate the end of World War I about 107 years ago.

President Donald Trump delivered remarks ([link removed]) at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery. There were two minutes of silence ([link removed]) at 11 a.m. in Britain to mark the end of World War I in 1918 and honor the lives lost in this and other wars.

Red poppies have long been associated with Armistice Day. People traditionally wear the flowers over their hearts. Poppies of other colors have different meanings.

Our question: What does a purple poppy commemorate?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Which position was Dick Cheney appointed to in the Gerald Ford administration, making him the youngest person at the time to hold the job?

The answer: Chief of staff. ([link removed]) Cheney, who died last week, served on Ford’s transition team when he assumed the presidency in 1974. The following year, Cheney — who was 34 at the time — was named White House chief of staff.

Congratulations to our winners: Drew Lankford and Joan Jasper!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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