The historic, record-breaking government shutdown is poised to end after the House of Representatives late Wednesday approved a funding package, sending the critical legislation to President Donald Trump for his expected signature.
The bill, passed after a grueling 43-day impasse, will immediately begin the process of reopening federal agencies that have been shuttered for over six weeks.
The measure, which had previously cleared the Senate, now heads to the White House, where President Trump has indicated he will sign it into law. The vote in the House passed by a margin of 222 to 209, with only six Democrats voting with Republicans to reopen the government.
The shutdown, which began on October 1st, had become the longest in U.S. history, impacting hundreds of thousands of federal workers and disrupting critical services across the nation, from air travel to food assistance programs.
The compromise package will fund most federal agencies through January 30, 2026, allowing them to resume normal operations. It also includes full-year funding for the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, among others.
Key provisions of the legislation include:
- Back Pay Guarantee: All furloughed federal employees and those who worked without pay will receive back pay for the time they missed.
- Reversal of Layoffs: The bill reverses over 4,000 federal layoffs enacted during the shutdown and prevents further reductions in force through January.
- Continuation of SNAP: Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, is appropriated through the end of the fiscal year.
The funding lapse was marked by a bitter policy dispute between the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House against Democrats’ demands for an extension of expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits.
The final compromise does not directly include the ACA extension but commits Senate leadership to hold a separate vote on the matter in mid-December.
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