At Long Last

The Longest United States Government Shutdown Is Over

Photo from Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Lasting 43 days, the longest federal government shutdown has come to an end. On Nov. 12, the House of Representatives voted 222-209 to approve a funding bill that reopens the government. President Donald Trump signed the bill later that night, establishing federal funding through Jan 30, 2026, with some programs funded till Sept. 2026. 

The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a spending bill. The main disagreement was on whether to extend enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Without these extensions, many Americans will face higher health costs, but lawmakers were unable to reach an agreement. This disagreement led to the bill not being passed, which caused the shutdown and stalled many federal services.

“[The process to end the shutdown] was way too slow because of the partisan divide,” history teacher Christine LaBatt said. “Instead of trying to work together, a lot of people just left Washington, which shows that there was not a pressing concern to resolve [the shutdown].”

The shutdown eventually ended without those healthcare extensions. First, Senate Republicans, seven Democrats and one independent joined to pass a compromise funding bill and send it to the House. In the House, six Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in voting yes, allowing the measure to move to the President. Lawmakers decided not to continue holding out for negotiations because they believed the shutdown was causing too much harm to people and services that are essential. Although the shutdown brought the healthcare issue into greater focus, the disagreement remains unresolved and lawmakers will have to revisit it before the next funding deadline. 

Another piece of controversy within the bill is a provision that allows at least 8 GOP senators to sue the Justice department for $500,000 each over efforts to subpoena or access their phone records tied to the DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation. House Republicans have said they will pass a resolution repealing that, but it remains unclear how the Senate will respond. 

With the shutdown over, federal operations are beginning to be restored. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers can return to work and finally receive their pay. Significant services, including food assistance programs like SNAP, which supports 42 million people, airport operations, federal institution operations and more can go back to operating as normal.

“Our country overall is very divided on party lines, which is unfortunate,” LaBatt said. “I wish people's livelihoods were considered more and not just casualties of party fighting.”