The longest government shutdown in American history is over. The House of Representatives passed a funding bill by 222 votes to 209 on Wednesday evening, and President Donald Trump signed it into law in the Oval Office less than two hours later, ending a 43-day funding lapse that left hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid.
Key Points
- Government shutdown ends — the House passed the funding package 222-209 on Wednesday evening and President Trump signed it at about 9:45 p.m. ET.
- The shutdown began on 1 October and ran for 43 days, passing the previous record of 35 days set during the funding lapse of December 2018 to January 2019.
- The 394-page package funds most federal agencies through 30 January 2027 and reverses the administration’s firing of furloughed federal workers.
- It contains no extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, the demand Democrats made the condition of their support for six weeks.
The Senate had passed the package on Monday night by 60 votes to 40, after a group of Senate Democrats broke with their colleagues to end the stalemate on the shutdown’s 41st day. The House vote was mostly along party lines: two Republicans, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida, voted against the bill, while six Democrats voted for it — Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state and Tom Suozzi of New York.
Federal agencies were expected to begin reopening within hours, with furloughed workers returning to their jobs on Thursday and back pay to follow, according to the White House and congressional leaders. The shutdown had thrown food assistance for millions of families into doubt and disrupted air travel across the country, as air traffic controllers and transport security officers worked without pay.
What the bill settles — and what it does not
The legislation does not settle the argument that caused the shutdown. It contains no extension of the enhanced tax credits that lower the cost of health insurance bought through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces — the subsidies Democrats demanded for six weeks, and which are set to expire on 31 December. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has promised a vote on the subsidies no later than the second week of December, but there is no agreement on what that vote would pass.
The package does reverse the Trump administration’s firing of furloughed federal workers, a provision Democrats insisted on, and it restores funding for food assistance and federal operations that had been running on emergency measures. Most agencies are funded through 30 January 2027, which sets up another funding deadline early next year.
What to watch next
The first test of the recovery will be practical: whether back pay reaches all furloughed and excepted employees promptly, and how quickly agencies that shed staff and cancelled services during the lapse can return to normal. The second test is political. The subsidies fight returns in December, and the January funding deadline means Congress will be back at the same table within weeks — with the same divisions, and the same leverage, that produced the longest shutdown in the country’s history.
For background on the Senate deal, see our report on the Senate passing the deal to end the longest US government shutdown, and on the House shelving the Hegseth impeachment vote. More in our Politics section.
Sources: Associated Press via NEXA News, “Trump Signs Bill Ending Longest Government Shutdown in US History as House Passes Funding Deal 222-209” (https://nexanewshd.com/trump-signs-bill-ends-longest-government-shutdown/); States Newsroom via NEXA News (same article).