Maryland’s House Democrats are largely dissatisfied with a bipartisan Senate deal to reopen the federal government, with many saying they plan to vote against.

As early as Wednesday, the House could vote on the budget package fresh from the Senate that will reopen federal agencies, restore food aid, ensure back pay for furloughed federal workers and undo mass layoffs carried out during the shutdown.

The deal falls short of what Democrats had hoped to gain by holding the line with their colleagues for more than 40 days, they said, because it neither extends subsidies to help people pay for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act nor ensures future spending compromises.

“If we do not find a way to address health care meaningfully, and we do not have protections against future cuts, the deal is a non-starter for this Democrat in the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Johnny Olszewski Jr.

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Olszewski, who represents portions of Baltimore and Carroll counties and a piece of Baltimore City, told reporters he still hopes there’s room to negotiate in the GOP-majority House and is preparing an amendment to stop the president from clawing back more funds.

“Any budget deal that does not have protections against future cuts is not worth the paper it’s written on,” he said.

Olszewski called the deal “woefully insufficient” and said the House package is looking even less palatable.

Speaker Mike Johnson has not guaranteed a future vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits as Senate Majority Leader John Thune did, though nothing was in writing.

“A handshake agreement for a future vote on health care in the Senate, but not in the House — after neighbors begin to see their health care costs skyrocket this month — is simply inadequate for the working families I represent," said U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, who represents Anne Arundel and Howard counties and part of Carroll County.

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U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume said he will be voting no on the package.

“Any agreement to go forward without addressing skyrocketing health care premiums and the high cost of groceries and home electricity is no deal at all,” the Baltimore Democrat said in a statement.

U.S. Rep Steny Hoyer’s office said he would comment on the deal closer to the House vote. U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Maryland’s only Republican, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris did not respond to a request for comment, but he has backed his party’s position.

U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat, talks about the effects of the federal government shutdown at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 8. 2025.
U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, center, said he will be voting no on the package. (Pamela Wood/The Banner)

The 40-plus day shutdown is the longest in the country’s history. The stalemate has marked the peak of a turbulent first year for the country under Trump’s second presidency. He and his Republican allies have transformed the federal government, reduced the federal workforce and agency budgets and reshaped diplomatic relationships with foreign allies.

The shutdown’s nadir came as the Trump administration paused funding for the country’s largest anti-hunger program and the Federal Aviation Administration reduced air traffic volume, causing nationwide flight cancellations and delays.

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Democrats in the House and Senate had linked arms around lowering health care costs and had withheld Democratic votes in the Senate as leverage. Republicans, who control all three branches of government, largely refused to negotiate until this week’s deal. Maryland’s two senators voted no on the deal.

Maryland is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors who rely on federal funds for their incomes. Congress members said during the shutdown that they heard from federal workers who wanted them to fight back against the Trump administration’s arbitrary firings and cuts to their workplaces.

Rep. Glenn Ivey represents Prince George’s County and has more than 40,000 federal civil servants living and working in his district. Ivey said he will not back a bill that doesn’t reduce health care costs.

“The shutdown has already stretched federal workers and their families to the breaking point, and now, countless Americans are being hit again by skyrocketing health care costs,” Ivey said in a statement.

Rep. April McClain Delaney represents Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties and parts of Montgomery and Frederick counties. The freshman congresswoman said that she will not back the Senate package and that standing firm with her colleagues during the shutdown wasn’t a loss.

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Democrats’ position drew the public’s attention to how the Trump administration’s actions were going to affect them.

The shutdown, she said, has brought into “sharp focus” how the GOP is “taking away their health care, is ruthlessly taking away food assistance, and is really decimating our government”