Shamita Basu

Capitol Hill, which is normally quiet on Sundays, was the scene of a dramatic political breakthrough last night as senators voted to advance an agreement that could reopen the government.

For the first time, eight Democrats broke with their party to support a Republican measure, just enough to overcome the filibuster that's forced a stalemate to this point.

Republican Majority Leader John Thune took to the Senate floor shortly before the vote.

To be clear, though, it's not quite over.

Last night's vote was procedural, and as of right now, the government remains closed.

There will be more debates this week that could delay progress, and it still needs to get through the House, which has been out of session since September 19th.

It's not a long-term fix either.

The deal would only fund the government through the end of January.

But Republicans have now cleared their biggest hurdle after convincing these Democratic senators to come around.

And crucially, they've secured that support without any guarantees to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the key demand from Democratic leaders.

Instead, they stuck to their offer of a vote on the issue sometime in December.

Democrats did secure some commitments.

The attempted firings of around 4,000 federal workers during the shutdown would be reversed, and SNAP food aid would be provided in full through September of 2026, ending uncertainty for millions of low-income Americans.

But with no real movement on his number one priority, health care subsidies, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged his party to hold firm before the vote.

Schumer's plea was not enough for some colleagues, whose constituents were feeling the effects of the shutdown more and more in recent days.

Millions of Americans haven't received food aid they rely on, and over the weekend, more than 2,000 flights were canceled when the FAA ordered a reduction in air traffic due to the shutdown.

And pressure is still mounting if a final deal isn't made this week.

The government warned that come Saturday, service members would stop getting paid.

Against that backdrop, several Senate Democrats didn't want the pain to drag on.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen defended her decision in a press conference last night.