The longest government shutdown in US history came to an end on Wednesday night when President Trump finally signed off on a contentious spending bill.
Earlier in the evening the House voted to reopen the federal government as representatives from the chamber rushed back to Capitol Hill after a 54-day absence.
Six Democrats broke rank to vote for the bill, going expressly against their leader. The 222-209 outcome gave final passage to the motion, with Trump’s later signing of it in the Oval Office, just before 10.30pm, officially reopening the federal government.
Those who defected from the Democrats included Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas and Adam Gray of California.
Before signing the bill, President Trump said the shutdown cost the country “$1.5 trillion” and accused the Democrats of “extortion”.
Addressing the effect on the country during the 43-day shutdown, Trump said more than 20,000 flights had been delayed or cancelled. He mentioned the federal workers who have gone without pay since October 1, and those who had their food benefits paused.
Trump accused the Democrats of “extortion” before signing the bill
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP
Although the federal government is now open, it will take some time for certain programmes and departments to fully recover. Snap food benefits are expected to be made immediately available to the 42 million Americans who receive them.
Airports will return to their usual operations, but this could also take some time.
Trump also criticised the pandemic-era healthcare subsidies at the heart of the shutdown, which the the Democrats were working to extend. He said they “would have really hurt our healthcare businesses”.
Taking a moment to mention the November 2026 mid-term elections, he said: “I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this when we come up to the midterms.”
The president did not take questions from press inside the Oval Office after signing the bill, with several reporters asking him about Jeffrey Epstein before they were ushered out.
Mike Johnson addresses reporters after the bill passed the House on Wednesday night
ROD LAMKEY/AP
Although Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, had urged his colleagues to vote against the motion on Wednesday night, a considerable number crossed the aisle. The Republicans lost the congressmen Thomas Massie and Greg Steube, who voted against the bill.
The Senate had passed a bill to end the shutdown on Monday evening after eight members of the Democratic caucus broke rank to join Republicans.
Their decision incensed many Democrats, who had refused to reopen the government unless the Trump administration agreed to extend pandemic-era healthcare credits, a concession the splintering group of Democrats failed to win. Trump called the measure a “very big victory”.
On Wednesday evening, the Senate hosted an hour-long debate and two procedural votes, followed by another hour of debate and a final vote.
Adelita Grijalva and Mike Johnson
JIM LO SCALZO/EPA
Before the vote, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, swore in the Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva seven weeks after she won a special election. “Finally,” one Democrat in the House called out as she took her oath.
Moments after she was sworn in, Grijalva gave the final signature needed to a petition that will force a vote on releasing the full “Epstein files” held by the justice department.
Johnson asked members to return to Washington on Monday. This was made difficult by widespread disruption to air travel, and some representatives used creative alternatives to return to Washington on time.
• Why Democrats caved in on the government shutdown deal
Derrick Van Orden, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, said he would ride his “bitchin’ Harley Davidson” for 16 hours. “Because they shut down the government — the Democrats — flights are too unreliable, so I’m going to ride my motorcycle,” Orden said, posting a video on X of him parking on the Mississippi River.
“It’s going to take me about 16 hours or so. It’s going to be a little chilly. But I will do my duty. I’m getting back to DC. We’re going to get this country back on track.”
Johnson said on Monday: “Air travel has been grinded to a halt in many places and, as of Sunday, nearly half of all domestic flights — US flights — were either cancelled or delayed. I’m stating the obvious to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House, you need to begin right now returning to the Hill.”
Derrick Van Orden
X/REPVANORDEN
More than 800 flights had been cancelled or delayed on Wednesday according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Sean Duffy, the transport secretary, had ordered 40 airports to reduce flight capacity in response to staffing shortages last week, causing a wave of disruption.
• Trump says unpaid air traffic controllers ‘did nothing but complain’
Though operations appeared to improve slightly on Wednesday, Duffy has warned of continuing delays even if the shutdown ends imminently. “We’re going to start to alleviate the restrictions — we’re at 6 per cent now — we’ll alleviate that only when the data says we should,” he said.
