WASHINGTON, United States — President Donald Trump has signed a short-term spending bill to reopen the federal government, bringing an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which lasted 43 days and left more than a million workers unpaid.
Trump signed the bill on Wednesday night, hours after the House of Representatives approved it by a 222–209 vote, following a narrow passage in the Senate two days earlier.
The measure temporarily funds government operations until January 30, while Congress seeks a longer-term agreement.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the government would “resume normal operations” after a shutdown that had “hurt so many people.” The closure had forced around 1.4 million federal employees to work without pay or take unpaid leave, disrupted air travel, and delayed food aid to millions of Americans.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was among the hardest hit, as staffing shortages had caused flight delays nationwide ahead of the Thanksgiving travel rush.
Trump, however, placed the blame for the shutdown squarely on Democrats, accusing them of “doing it purely for political reasons.” He warned voters not to forget their actions “when we come up to midterms.”
The standoff began after Democrats refused to support a temporary funding bill unless Republicans agreed to extend health insurance subsidies for low-income Americans, which were due to expire by year’s end. Republicans rejected the condition, saying healthcare negotiations should come later.
The deadlock broke when a group of eight Senate Democrats defected from the party line, voting for the package in exchange for a promise of a December vote on the healthcare subsidies.
Their decision triggered sharp criticism from senior Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who argued the deal “failed to fix America’s healthcare crisis.”
Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, one of the eight Democrats who supported the compromise, defended the move, saying federal workers were “saying thank you” for ending the impasse.
Meanwhile, the reopening of government coincided with the swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva, Arizona’s newest Democratic representative, who succeeds her late father, Raul Grijalva.
Her addition to Congress did not alter the outcome of the funding vote but brought renewed attention to Democratic efforts to increase transparency, including a new push to force a vote on releasing documents related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Under the new agreement, full-year funding has been secured for the Department of Agriculture, military construction projects, and legislative agencies. It also guarantees back pay for all affected federal workers and ensures that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—which supports one in eight Americans—will remain funded until next September.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said a follow-up vote on healthcare subsidies will be scheduled next month, setting up another test of bipartisan cooperation in Washington’s divided Congress.
