After a month and a half of the longest federal government shutdown in history, Congress is set to take a vote Wednesday night to reopen the government. West-central Missouri U.S. Congressman Mark Alford says Democrats are to blame for the stalemate, but he believes the turning point that brought both sides back to the table was the crisis involving air traffic controllers.

“Some were not showing up to work either out of protest or out of necessity because they were having to find other jobs to pay the bills, and that started to impact everyday normal Americans,” said Alford.

The deal keeps the government funded through January 30th but leaves out Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Alford told Missourinet that those subsidies go to insurance companies—and he believes that it has to stop.

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