Trump Signs Bill to End Record 43-Day U.S. Government Shutdown

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law a bill ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history — a 43-day standoff that paralyzed Washington, left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay, and deepened partisan divisions in Congress.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted largely along party lines to approve the Senate-passed funding package, which reopens federal agencies and departments through January, with key areas such as defense, veterans’ affairs, and agriculture funded through next fall.

Flanked by Republican lawmakers in the Oval Office, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Trump celebrated the bill’s passage as a victory for his administration and accused Democrats of “extortion.”

“Today we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” Trump declared, urging Americans to “remember this chaos” when voting in next year’s midterm elections.

Workers Return, Pay Restored

The agreement allows roughly 670,000 furloughed civil servants to return to work and ensures back pay for another 670,000 essential workers who continued without pay, including air traffic controllers and airport security personnel.

The bill also reinstates federal employees dismissed during the shutdown and is expected to restore normalcy to air travel after weeks of disruptions.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the shutdown cost the U.S. economy $14 billion in lost growth — far short of Trump’s disputed claim that Democrats’ actions cost the country $1.5 trillion.

Bipartisan Tensions and Political Fallout

House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed Democrats for prolonging the shutdown.

“They knew it would cause pain, and they did it anyway,” Johnson said on the House floor. “The whole exercise was pointless, wrong, and cruel.”

Despite public polling showing most Americans blamed Republicans for the impasse, the GOP appears to have regained footing following the shutdown’s resolution.

Democrats, meanwhile, are grappling with internal divisions. Party leaders had refused to reopen the government unless Trump agreed to extend pandemic-era health care tax credits that made insurance affordable for millions. However, a group of eight Senate moderates broke ranks to strike a compromise, promising only a Senate vote on the subsidies — without guarantees in the House.

Democrats in Disarray

The deal’s passage has sparked anger among progressives who accuse Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of capitulating. Several House Democrats have privately called for new leadership, while party figures eyeing the 2028 presidential race publicly denounced the agreement.

California Governor Gavin Newsom labeled the deal “pathetic,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker described it as an “empty promise,” and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called it a “bad deal.”

Still, Democratic leaders insist their strategy successfully elevated health care as a key campaign issue ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“We have elevated the Republican health care crisis — and we’re not backing away from it,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on MSNBC.

The Road Ahead

The compromise buys Congress a few months of stability, but deeper policy disagreements remain unresolved — especially over health care, spending priorities, and the federal deficit. With midterms approaching, both parties now seek to leverage the shutdown’s outcome to rally their bases.