Seven Senate Democrats plus one independent voted on Sunday to support a Republican deal to reopen the US government.
The defections broke a weeks-long deadlock during which the Democratic Party resisted pressure to end the longest ever US shutdown.
During that period, the main reason the Democratic senators gave for refusing to back a funding deal was the expiry of healthcare subsidies – which they said would hit millions of households.
So who are the group who sided with the Republicans – and what have they said to justify crossing the floor?
Tim Kaine
The first thing to say about them all is that none of them faces re-election in 2026, and Virginia Senator Kaine is no different.
Known to many as Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election, he said he backed the Republican deal because it would protect workers and set the US on a path towards “fixing Republicans’ healthcare mess”.
His state is home to about 300,000 federal employees, many of whom are off work without pay because of the shutdown.
He said: “This legislation will protect federal workers from baseless firings, reinstate those who have been wrongfully terminated during the shutdown, and ensure federal workers receive back pay, as required by a law I got passed in 2019.”
Jeanne Shaheen
The New Hampshire senator was one of the architects of the deal that advanced on Sunday. She praised it as one that restores a cross-party spending process, including funds for food assistance and healthcare for military veterans.
“Weeks of negotiations with Republicans have made clear that they will not address healthcare as part of shutdown talks – and that waiting longer will only prolong the pain Americans are feeling because of the shutdown,” she said.
Maggie Hassan
New Hampshire’s other senator, Hassan told reporters her constituents had been hit hard by the shutdown and were now bracing for an impending spike in healthcare costs.
“My vote today was to do two things: both equally morally important and imperative,” she said.
Hassan spoke of the importance of a functioning government, “so that our kids eat, so that our elderly citizens eat, so that our air traffic controllers can get some sleep and earn money, get paid while they are working, so that our veterans are protected”.