US Congress Ends Historic Government Shutdown: Impact on Federal Services and Political Implications

The legislation to terminate the government shutdown will provide funding through January 30.

Washington:

Congress approved a measure on Wednesday to end the most prolonged government shutdown in American history, restoring disrupted food assistance programs, paying hundreds of thousands of federal employees, and revitalizing the impaired air-traffic control system.

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed the package with a 222-209 vote. President Donald Trump's backing largely maintained party unity despite strong opposition from House Democrats, who expressed frustration that a prolonged standoff initiated by their Senate colleagues failed to secure an extension of federal health insurance subsidies.

Having already cleared the Senate, the bill will be signed into law by President Trump later Wednesday, officially concluding the shutdown.

The legislation extends government funding until January 30, keeping the federal government on track to continue adding approximately $1.8 trillion annually to its $38 trillion debt.

"I feel like I just lived a Seinfeld episode. We just spent 40 days and I still don't know what the plotline was," Arizona Republican Representative David Schweikert remarked, comparing Congress's handling of the shutdown to the misadventures portrayed in a popular 1990s American sitcom.

"I really thought this would be like 48 hours: people will have their piece, they'll get a moment to have a temper tantrum, and we'll get back to work," he added. "What's happened now when rage is policy?"

The vote occurred eight days after Democrats secured several significant electoral victories, which many party members believed strengthened their position to win an extension of health insurance subsidies scheduled to expire at year's end. While the agreement establishes a December Senate vote on these subsidies, House Speaker Mike Johnson has made no comparable commitment.

Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill, recently elected as New Jersey's next governor, delivered her final address on the House floor before her upcoming resignation, urging colleagues to stand firm against the Trump administration.

"To my colleagues: Do not let this body become a ceremonial red stamp from an administration that takes food away from children and rips away healthcare," Sherrill stated. "To the country: Stand strong. As we say in the Navy, don't give up the ship."

Neither party appears to have emerged as a clear victor from the shutdown. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday revealed that 50% of Americans held Republicans responsible for the shutdown, while 47% blamed Democrats.

The House vote occurred on the chamber's first day in session since mid-September, following a lengthy recess intended to pressure Democrats. The reconvening also initiated the countdown for a vote to release all unclassified records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an action that both Johnson and Trump have resisted.

On Wednesday, Johnson administered the oath of office to Democrat Adelita Grijalva, who won a September special election to fill the Arizona seat of her late father, Raul Grijalva. She provided the final signature required for a petition to force a House vote on the Epstein documents, shortly after House Democrats released a new collection of records.

After fulfilling its constitutional obligation to fund the government, the House may once again become embroiled in an investigation concerning Trump's former associate, whose life and 2019 death in prison have generated numerous conspiracy theories.

The funding package would permit eight Republican senators to seek hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for alleged privacy violations stemming from the federal investigation into the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack by Trump supporters.

It retroactively prohibits obtaining a senator's phone data without disclosure in most instances and allows those whose records were obtained to sue the Justice Department for $500,000 in damages, plus attorney fees and additional costs.