Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

It’s been a long day on Capitol Hill.

Senators began their business at 11:00 EST (16:00 GMT) and some 10 hours later they’re finally wrapping things up.

Republicans got the 60 votes they needed to pass a measure to reopen the government. The deal will now go to the House, where they will weigh in.

There were two moods circulating the halls of the Senate today as the outcome of the day’s business became clear: joy and concern.

Among the Republicans and eight Democrats who voted to end the shutdown, there was widespread relief that the pain for millions of Americans would subside after 41 days of the government being shut down.

But for those who didn’t back the measure - who wanted Democrats to stick their heels in and wait for Republicans to budge on healthcare - there’s worry about where the party goes from here and how they’ll stand up to Republicans and Trump moving forward.

For now, us reporters are headed home, and bracing for another long day on Wednesday when the House of Representatives returns to take up this same measure.

Our live coverage is ending. You can read more about the shutdown here.

The announcement of the bill's passage was made to a largely empty room, but the senators who stayed behind for the end cheered and applauded.

Many had already left to catch flights out of town after working through the weekend.

"We are going to reopen government, we are going to ensure that federal employees ... will now receive compensation that they're earned and deserve," says Senator Susan Collins, a Republican who played a key role in authoring the bill.

A few others, like Majority Leader John Thune, stayed behind until the end.

Democratic Senators Corey Booker and Jeff Merkley were the last two to vote - each giving a thumbs down to signal their "no" votes.

Image source, US Senate

A final version of a bill to end the US government shutdown has just passed the Senate with a 60-40 vote.

Lawmakers are now one step closer to ending the longest shutdown in the country's history.

The bill goes to the US House of Representatives next, where a vote is expected on Wednesday.

After that, it will head to the White House where President Trump is expected to sign it into law, the final step toward reopening the government.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

After a series of procedural votes, the Senate is now voting on the negotiated resolution to the government shutdown.

As a reminder, last night Senators held a procedural vote on the measure and it just passed the upper chamber in a 60-40 vote.

Today’s vote is expected to pass with the same margin and Senators - who have been working for the past eight days straight - are expected to quickly leave town.

As senators leave town, we’re waiting for members of the House to arrive and begin their negotiation process. A possible vote is expected there on Wednesday.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

This process has taken substantially longer than many of us had anticipated.

But it finally appears we’re approaching the end.

They’re currently voting on the sixth of eight measures.

The eighth is the one we’ve all been waiting for.

When we have the finally tally, we’ll bring you the latest.

In a few moments, senators will begin voting on a new deal that would end this US government shutdown.

Until now, Virginia's two Democratic senators have been united in their votes against Republican-led efforts to reopen the government. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have sided with their Democratic Party colleagues in proposing their own bill and for an extension to tax credits that lower healthcare costs.

But that has now changed. Kaine is among seven Democrats and one independent who is expected to vote along with Republicans to temporarily fund the government, against the wishes of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and the majority of Democrats.

But when fellow Virginian Warner walks up to the clerk tallying the vote, he is expected to vote "Nay". Virginia is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are currently furloughed or working without pay.

The demands from Democrats have been largely popular within the party and ending the shutdown without an agreement on the tax credit extension has angered some.

Unlike Kaine, Warner is due for re-election during next year's midterm elections.

Image source, US Senate

The Senate floor has been fairly empty for much of the night, with Senators drifting in and out to take their votes.

But now there's some energy in the room. You can hear a lot more chatter, and there's far more people standing around.

We're expecting the final vote to happen very soon.

You can click watch live at the top of this page to follow along.

The amendment seeking to strip the spending bill of language restricting hemp has been shot down.

Senator Rand Paul, who is the only Republican to oppose this bill, spoke to the Senate earlier. He said the language around hemp would devastate the hemp industry, including farmers in his home state of Kentucky.

After this vote, it looks like that language is staying in the bill's final version.

It's getting late, and procedural votes in the Senate are dragging on.

As we wait for the final vote on the Senate's bill to fund the US government and end the shutdown, here's a look inside the Capitol this evening.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Outside the Senate floor, Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy is reflecting on where Democrats go from here after the party's consensus on the shutdown appears to have been broken.

He’s among the Democrats who did not back this compromise with Republicans.

Murphy says Democrats need to have a caucus-wide conversation about how they are going to conduct business moving forward.

The Democrats who negotiated this compromise did so without the support of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“This is a gift to Donald Trump and Republicans,” Murphy says.

Image source, US Senate

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the only Republican to vote against the spending measure yesterday, is now speaking.

He's trying to convince other lawmakers to strip restrictions on hemp that would come with this bill. Paul says this legislation is tantamount to "prohibition", and it has the potential to "eradicate the hemp industry" and hurt hemp farmers.

The senior Kentucky senator, Mitch McConnell, spoke in opposition of Paul's amendment, saying unregulated hemp is being used to make "intoxicating substances" marketed to children in "candy-like packaging".

McConnell assured industrial hemp and CBD will remain unaffected.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says he is "very disappointed" in the new deal that is supported by seven Democrats and one independent which will see a temporary end to the US federal government shutdown.

"I am disappointed that eight people made a very profound decision to for the entire caucus," Sanders, an independent who typically votes with Democrats, says in an interview with CBS, the BBC's US partner.

The new agreement with Republicans has angered many Democrats like Sanders who have called for an extension of federal tax credits that helps keep healthcare costs low. The tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year.

An amendment to the spending bill that would have preserved healthcare tax breaks and kept insurance premiums from rising has failed in a Senate vote.

Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin spearheaded the amendment, and several other Democratic Senators spoke in support of it.

Healthcare costs have largely been at the centre of this shutdown, with the majority of Democrats citing it as the reason they held out on passing a spending bill.

While the Senate debates and votes to pass the negotiated resolution to the government shutdown, Americans across the country are still dealing with air travel chaos.

Airlines have been ordered to cancel flights to ease air traffic control problems.

The latest data from Flight Aware states that 7,992 flights have been delayed so far today and another 2,255 flights have been cancelled.

Air traffic controllers, who are federal employees, are working without pay during the government shutdown. This has exacerbated existing staffing issues.

Adding to the misery, a ground stop has just been ordered at New York's LaGuardia Airport due to staffing issues.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

We’re awaiting the final vote that will push this shutdown through one of its last hurdles.

While Sanders continues to speak on the floor, Senate staff outside the floor appear jovial about the prospect of the end.

Two staffers hug one another outside the floor, one says “we’re almost at the final line”.

Stick with us and we’ll bring you the latest from the vote.

Senator Bernie Sanders is up next, seconding Baldwin's amendment on extending healthcare tax credits for a year.

"The current healthcare system is broken, it is dysfunctional and it is cruel," he said, adding that the request to preserve the credits is a "simple" solution to keep premiums down for millions of Americans.

"If you want to have a debate about healthcare, let's have that debate," he said. "What we should agree upon is that you don't raise premiums by 100%."

Image source, US Senate

Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin just spoke on the floor.

She is leading an effort for senators to publicly vote on their positions for an extension of tax credits that lowers healthcare costs for some Americans.

The tax credits expire in December and have been at the heart of the government funding crisis.

"I have offered an amendment to extend tax breaks for Americans who buy their insurance through the American Care Act for one year," she says.

"It would extend current law for one year, stop costs for skyrocketing for our constituents and give us time to negotiate on healthcare costs without leaving 22 million Americans in the lurch."

Senators are still voting on a series of measures. They need to get all of these out of the way before they can go to that final vote to end the government shutdown.

And of course, that vote won't actually end the shutdown. It will send things back to the House, who will then have their own votes.

You can click watch live at the top of this page to see how things are going in the Senate.

Image source, US Senate

The US Senate is now proceeding with eight votes leading up to the bill's final passage.

Many are procedural, but some aim to make changes to the bill. Here are the major ones to look for:

1. Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin plans to force a vote on lowering healthcare costs so Republicans will go on the record with their "no" votes. Healthcare costs have been central to Democrats' opposition of the Republican-led measure
2. An amendment on the use of hemp is also on the table. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who was the only Republican to vote no on passing the measure yesterday, wants to remove some language in the bill that he believes will harm hemp farmers in his state
3. Once all amendments are voted on, the Senate will invoke cloture on the bill, which means it will initiate the final vote
4. The final bill will then be voted on - and it's expected to pass

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

You can feel the end is in sight even if the vote isn’t official yet.

Senators are nearly running to the vote. Half of them have come to the floor with their winter jackets on or in hand.

Spirits also appear lifted for some, who know their job is done.

Vermont Democrat Peter Welch and Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn just walked out of an elevator laughing with one another.

Just a few days ago, sights like that were nearly unthinkable.