House passes bill to end nation’s longest government shutdown on Day 43, sending measure to Trump for his signature
After more than six weeks of gridlock, Congress has approved a bill to reopen the U.S. government, ending the longest shutdown in American history. The funding measure passed the House late Wednesday evening and now heads to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law at 9:45 p.m.
The vote capped a bitter standoff that began October 1 and left much of Washington paralyzed. The final tally was 222–209, with six Democrats joining nearly all Republicans in support. Those Democrats were Reps. Tom Suozzi of New York, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Don Davis of North Carolina. Only two Republicans—Reps. Greg Steube of Florida and Thomas Massie of Kentucky—voted against it.
Republicans on the House floor broke into applause as the bill passed, while most Democrats quietly exited the chamber.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized the measure for not extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits established during the COVID-19 pandemic. “This bill fails to address the Republican healthcare crisis, and it fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credit,” Jeffries said. Those subsidies are set to expire at the end of this year.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was optimistic earlier in the day, telling reporters, “We believe the long national nightmare will be over tonight. It was completely and utterly foolish and pointless in the end.”
Some Republicans expressed frustration over a late addition to the legislation—a provision allowing senators whose communications were surveilled during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation to sue the federal government for $500,000 each. Several members, including Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Austin Scott, R-Ga., voiced concerns but agreed not to derail the bill. Speaker Johnson promised to bring up a separate repeal measure next week to address their objections.
Despite that, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., voted no, saying, “I’m not voting to send Lindsey Graham half a million dollars.”
The shutdown had been taking an increasing toll nationwide. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents working without pay were forced to take second jobs, causing widespread delays and cancellations at major airports. Millions of Americans dependent on federal assistance also faced uncertainty as key programs neared funding exhaustion.
At the heart of the impasse was Democrats’ insistence that any funding deal include an extension of Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies. Republicans countered that federal funding should not be tied to partisan healthcare measures, though they agreed to hold future talks on long-term healthcare reform.
A Senate compromise broke the deadlock. The upper chamber passed the bill 60–40, with eight Democrats joining Republicans after leaders agreed to hold a December vote on the subsidy issue. Speaker Johnson has not made that commitment in the House.
Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., called the compromise inadequate, saying, “A future vote is the equivalent of asking two wolves and a chicken to vote on what’s for dinner. It is dead on arrival.”
Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, said Democrats prolonged the shutdown for no real gain. “They got absolutely nothing except a total surrender that only hurt American families,” he said.
The legislation funds the federal government through January 30, setting up another potential showdown early next year. It also provides full-year appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, as well as the legislative branch.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said lawmakers aim to complete work on the remaining nine appropriations bills within weeks. “We’d like to get all of those done before the next deadline,” he said.
House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., agreed: “I think we can get there.”
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