President Donald Trump has signed legislation ending the longest government shutdown in US history, a 43-day standoff that froze Washington and left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay. The Republican-led House approved the Senate-passed package along largely party lines, reopening federal agencies while tensions lingered over Democratic criticism of the deal.
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office as he signed the bill, targeted Democrats for what he described as extortion, urging Americans to remember the standoff in next year’s midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson joined him, accusing Democrats of causing needless pain and labeling the shutdown as both pointless and cruel.
The funding package restores pay and positions for roughly 670,000 furloughed workers and compensates another 670,000 who continued working without pay, including air traffic controllers and airport security personnel. It also covers military construction, veterans’ affairs, the Department of Agriculture, Congress through next fall, and government operations through the end of January. Workers dismissed during the shutdown are being reinstated, and disruptions to air travel are expected to normalize gradually.
While Trump claimed Democrats cost the nation $1.5 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the shutdown cost roughly $14 billion in lost economic growth.
Democratic leadership had pushed members to oppose the bill, criticizing Senate colleagues for compromising without securing meaningful concessions on health care subsidies. Although the party’s hard stance faltered, leaders argue the spotlight on health care could energize voters for the 2026 midterms. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries emphasized that Democrats would continue highlighting the issue, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faced backlash from progressives for the deal’s concessions.
Across the country, prominent Democrats including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized the agreement as insufficient or symbolic, reflecting lingering divisions within the party even as government operations resume.
This historic shutdown and its resolution underscore the fraught interplay of politics and policy in Washington, illustrating the high stakes and sharp divides that continue to shape federal governance.
