The longest government shutdown in American history is officially over.
After 43 days of frozen services, missed paychecks, and partisan standoff, President Donald Trump (R) signed a funding bill late Wednesday night that reopens most of the federal government and keeps it running until Jan. 30.
The House approved the measure by a 222-209 vote after the Senate advanced a compromise earlier in the week.
For hundreds of thousands of federal workers, the formal reopening means a return to work and the promise of back pay under existing law. It does not erase the damage from more than six weeks without a paycheck.
Many workers drained savings, took on debt, or picked up second jobs to get by. Agencies must now unwind furloughs, undo threatened reductions in force, and restart grant programs and services that were suspended when funding lapsed on Oct. 1.
The shutdown’s impact on America’s economy will linger well beyond the first day back. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that a six-week shutdown would cut fourth-quarter growth by as much as one and a half percentage points, with at least $11 billion in economic activity permanently lost.
The White House has already acknowledged that key October economic reports, including the Consumer Price Index and the jobs report, are unlikely to ever be released, leaving the Federal Reserve without crucial data heading into its next policy meeting.
Air travel is one of the clearest examples of how ending the shutdown does not immediately end the disruption. By the time the deal was reached, about 20,000 flights had been canceled or delayed. The FAA moved ahead with mandated cuts at major airports as unpaid controllers stopped reporting for duty, citing stress and financial strain. Even with funding restored, federal and industry officials warn that cancellations and delays could drag on for days or weeks as staffing and schedules reset.
Key safety net programs are finally moving from legal limbo back toward full operation. The new law funds the Agriculture Department, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), through the rest of the fiscal year. That should end a tense chapter in which SNAP benefits for roughly 42 million people were at risk and states were whipsawed by conflicting federal instructions and court orders over whether to pay partial or full benefits.
The government reopening also allows the National Flood Insurance Program to resume processing new policies and lets the Agriculture Department restart rural housing loans, although both agencies expect backlogs that could delay home purchases and closings.
Advocates say those technical descriptions mask the very human cost of a shutdown that fell hardest on women, low-income families, and communities of color.
“The longest shutdown in U.S. history has left women, families, and frontline workers twisting in the wind while politicians play power games,” Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates, said. “When the government does not work, working people and those who rely on public programs pay the price.”
Farrell said women have borne the brunt of furloughs and missed paychecks, the collapse and confusion around nutrition assistance, and the suspension of economic data that helps track wage discrimination. She warned that the temporary funding deal does not guarantee Affordable Care Act subsidies and leaves millions, particularly women and children, at risk of losing affordable coverage.
“For the women and families that depend on effective government, this shutdown was another reminder that they are too often used as political pawns and ignored in the final compromise,” Farrell said. “A functional democracy does not leave its people on their own. Congress must restore trust and act now to ensure this type of impasse does not happen again in a few months.”
Democrats, Activists Call Out Republican Leaders
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, said Senate Republicans started the shutdown.
“So, let us not pretend they have the moral high ground with this agreement,” Sharpton asserted. “They launched a crusade to snatch health care from millions of at-risk Americans under the guise of spending cuts when this loss of coverage will endanger both our economy and human lives.”
Democratic Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, who serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce, decried the deal that doesn’t include affordable healthcare.
“After enduring the pain of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, millions of working Americans are seeing their healthcare premiums skyrocket,” Lee said. “There is nothing in this bill that guarantees healthcare subsidies will be voted on and passed.”
Lee added that Americans want a government that serves them and a Democratic party that fights for them, especially at a time when we face rising authoritarianism and overburdening.
“We live in the wealthiest country on the planet and should not have to choose between healthcare and any other essential need,” she exclaimed.
Shaundell Newsome, co-chair of Small Business for America’s Future, said small businesses continue to face mounting economic pressures that squeezed them before the shutdown began.
“For too many small businesses,” Newsome stated, “Christmas may be cancelled this year.”
