00:00Now, U.S. House lawmakers meeting to vote on that bill that would end the 43-day-long government shutdown.
00:08The legislation would reopen the federal government and fund some agencies,
00:11but it could take days or weeks before normal operations resume.
00:16Let's bring in our Washington correspondent and Bloomberg Balance of Power co-anchor Joe Matthew.
00:21Joe, really good to see you. So what is the state of play when it comes to the vote?
00:26Well, look, we're 43 days in the making here, and it looks like just a couple of hours away from this vote actually happening.
00:33We understand around 8 p.m. Eastern time is the window that the speaker expects us to get down to actual voting following just weeks and weeks.
00:41This is the first time that House members in some cases have been back in Washington in more than 50 days.
00:46And to your point, this would refund the government, but only through the end of January.
00:51There are some important agencies that would be funded for the year, including Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.
00:57But as far as the rest of this goes, once they reopen the government, they'll immediately have to start negotiating on what to do next.
01:03And we have already been asking lawmakers if there's a chance we could shut down again in January or on January 30th.
01:09And that remains a distinct possibility if they don't come to terms on extending health care subsidies,
01:14which has really been the rub here between Democrats and Republicans.
01:18This, as I mentioned, would be signed tonight as well by the president, assuming this passes as planned.
01:23It does look like Speaker Johnson has the votes to finally bring this to a close.
01:30Yeah, and as you mentioned, the Obamacare tax credits, for example, the Senate has agreed to that vote to happen.
01:36What's happening in the House?
01:37And given that timeline, what could happen next, especially as the shutdown, as the temporary funding will run out at the end of January?
01:46Well, look, it's a very different reality here in the House.
01:49Speaker Johnson, unlike Senate Leader John Thune, has not promised a vote on this.
01:54And so Democratic lawmakers in the House are very concerned about where they stand.
01:58Negotiations are expected to take place once the government reopens, but it's unclear what they will lead to
02:03and whether it's more than a temporary extension, whether other collars or guardrails are put on this whole idea of extending premiums.
02:12But you're asking the right question. If they cannot come to terms on this, that will increase the odds of the government shutting down again at the end of February.
02:20And I could be back here the first day of February talking to you about how long that might last.
02:26The next couple of weeks are going to be incredibly important in figuring that out.
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