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President Donald Trump signed legislation to refund the government, ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Trump signaled Monday that the government would open soon as the consequences of a lack of funding continued to mount, including unpaid paychecks for federal workers and airline voting delays due to air traffic controller staffing shortages.
The bill keeps government funding at the same levels for fiscal year 2025 through Jan. 30 to provide additional time to discuss a longer appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026.
The measure also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on which more than 42 million Americans rely through September. The program supports low-income or no-income individuals or families to purchase food with a debit card.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea on October 29, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Additionally, the measure reverses layoffs that the Trump administration put in place in early October and pays employees for their absences.
The government reopening comes after more than 40 days of a funding lapse amid a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a stopgap spending bill that would have funded the government through Nov. 21.
After a halt in funding beginning Oct. 1, the Senate passed legislation Monday night that would reopen the government by a 60-40 vote margin. A total of eight Democrats voted alongside their Republican counterparts in favor of the measure. The House later approved its version of the measure on Wednesday.
The White House is seen the day after President Donald Trump announced US military strikes against nuclear facilities in Iran on June 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
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The deal came as fallout from the shutdown came to a head, including travel disruptions at U.S. airports, where air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers were scheduled to work and prepared to miss a second paycheck.
As a result, these employees called in sick or took second jobs, leading to staffing shortages and flight delays.
The clash between Republicans and Democrats stemmed from disagreements over several health care provisions that would be included in a potential funding measure. Trump and Republicans claimed that Democrats wanted to provide health care to illegal immigrants and pointed to a provision that would repeal part of Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill known as the “big, beautiful bill” that reduced Medicaid eligibility for non-U.S. citizens.
Dawn light reaches the dome of the United States Capitol on Thursday, January 2, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Democrats rejected this characterization and said they want to permanently extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025.
The stopgap spending bill Trump signed does not extend these subsidies to the end of the year, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-D., agreed to vote in December on legislation that would continue these credits.
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Likewise, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has not agreed to accept that deal in the House.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.