WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today shared a video message on social media following a bipartisan agreement to end the 35-day government shutdown by passing a three-week continuing resolution funding the government through February 15. Today’s breakthrough is the culmination of days of consensus-building from Senator King, including remarks on the Senate floor yesterday from him and a bipartisan group of his Senate colleagues urging the President and Congressional leaders to reopen the government. Senator King’s video can be viewed HERE.

“A reporter asked me today “Who won?” And who won were the federal workers across the country, including twelve hundred in Maine, who can now go back to work – or in some cases, continue working and being paid,” said Senator King in the video. “That’s the result, that’s the most straightforward result of the President’s speech today. That we’re going to be able to get back to work serving the public, processing applications, doing all the things the federal government does.

“Now, the second question is, ‘Where do we go from here?’ I was working all week with a group of I think ten or twelve Republican, Democratic, and Independent Senators to try and find a resolution to this. And when both of the bills failed on the floor yesterday we took to the floor and said, look, there’s a better way to do this. Let’s take a deep breath take a break for three weeks from this shutdown, put people back to work, and then try to find a solution on this border control issue. I’m not prejudging what’s going to happen, how it’s going to come out. But, I can tell you that there are people on both sides of the aisle and myself who are deeply committed to finding a solution that will protect our country, that makes sense, and that will work for the people of Maine – and we shouldn’t have to go through this nonsense of a shutdown again.”

Since the shutdown began in late December, Senator King has made reopening the federal government his top priority. He has repeatedly called to end the shutdown; in addition to yesterday’s bipartisan effort, Senator King had previously given a speech on the Senate floor and released a video message emphasizing the negative impact the government shutdown is having on people across Maine, including U.S. Coast Guard personnel and families. In addition, Senator King has worked to reduce the impact of the shutdown on federal workers. He was a cosponsor of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, a bipartisan bill that Senator King cosponsored to ensure that affected federal workers will receive back pay, and was a cosponsor of the Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act, a bill which would secure back pay for the federal contractor employees.