Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Kristen Welker. The longest government shutdown in American history is officially over, but its resolution creates questions about the path forward for both parties.

President Trump signed the short-term funding bill last night in the Oval Office, surrounded

by Republican allies, both the president and Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, blaming Democrats

for the record-breaking shutdown.

The Democrats tried to extort our country.

In just a moment, I'll sign a bill exactly like we asked Democrats to send us all along many days ago.

I want to say that all this was utterly pointless and foolish. This outcome was totally foreseeable.

Democrats admitted that they used the people as leverage, and they got nothing for their selfish political stunt here.

They didn't achieve anything with this at all.

The deal only funds the government through January 31st, leaving open the potential for another shutdown in just a few months.

The shutdown and the deal to end it have turbocharged

the debate over health care. Despite the Democrats' demands, tax credits for the Affordable Care Act

are still set to expire at the end of the year. And there is still no clear path in Congress to

prevent that from happening. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries yesterday filed a petition

to force a vote on a

Democratic plan that would include a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Look. The Republicans have zero credibility on this issue. These are folks, these Republicans,

who have tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 70 different times in the last 15 years. There's no evidence

that they're serious about extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. That's likely a non-starter

for Republicans who argue the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare,

needs overhauling. I think we ought to fix the problem instead of quit patching, quit throwing

unlimited money on it. I don't think there's any chance at all Republicans are going to vote for

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