So basically the deal is
The status quo ante, plus a meaningless Republican promise to “hold a vote” in December on the ACA (which vote, if held, will be meaningless as even if it were to miraculously pass the Senate, it would die in the House). So the Democrats got nothing at all out of the shut down except a cementing of their reputation as feckless. SAD!
As a former federal employee (most recently left in 2023 to be clear), I would not view the Dems as heroes simply because they negotiated to let me keep the pay and employment status I would have had before the shutdown. I would wonder why in the world they put me through the trauma of withheld pay and maybe being RIF’ed without getting a single thing out it. What, indeed, was the point?
What a sad tragic waste for a party that was finally beginning to demonstrate backbone and cohesion.