The longest government shutdown in American history ended with the stroke of a pen by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday night.
Trump signed a spending package into law funding the government through the end of January, concluding a 43-day standoff with Democrats. The spending measure will provide missed paychecks to the swath of government employees reporting to work during the government shutdown including air traffic controllers and Capitol Police while sending hundreds of thousands of furloughed employees back to the office.
“I just want to tell you the country has never been in better shape,” the president said as he signed the continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the government passed by the House and the Senate. “We went through this short-term disaster with the Democrats because they thought it would be good politically. And it’s an honor now to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again.”
The record-breaking shutdown also disrupted air travel across the country, limited access to federal food aid and certain healthcare services and cost the economy billions of dollars. Federal food aid for millions of Americans were also jeopardized by the funding lapse.
“The damage caused by the Democrats with this reckless government shutdown cannot be forgotten,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday. “It is entirely the fault of the Democrat party.”
The signing ceremony immediately followed the House of Representatives approving a Senate-passed funding package during a vote of 222 to 209 largely along party lines. Just two House Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida defected while the measure earned the support of six democrats.
Democrats are leaving the shutdown fight without having their chief demand met: an extension of enhanced Obamacare premium tax credits. Senate majority Leader John Thune has pledged to hold a vote on a Democratic-sponsored Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies bill in December as part of a bipartisan deal to end the shutdown, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has not made a similar offer. The anticipated Democrat-sponsored bill is also likely to struggle to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
The Trump administration also agreed to rehire the several thousand federal workers who were fired during the shutdown as part of a bipartisan deal to end the funding lapse.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has also sparked progressive’s ire for failing to keep his caucus in line during a pivotal Senate vote Sunday night. Eight Senate Democrats bucked Schumer to reopen the government, citing in part their increasing disagreement with the minority leader’s hardball tactics the longer the shutdown went on.
“I cannot accept a strategy which wages political battle at the expense of my neighbor’s paycheck or the food for his children,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat, said on the Senate floor Monday. Durbin, Schumer’s leadership partner, is not running for reelection in 2026.
Trump also renewed his call for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster during his remarks. Senate Republicans have largely balked at the idea despite Trump’s pressure on senators to scrap the upper chamber’s 60-vote threshold and end the shutdown on their own.
“If we had the filibuster terminated, this would never happen again,” Trump said. “And don’t forget, we have another date coming up in the not too distant future. We can never let this happen again, and we should be able to pass great, really great legislation.”
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