Washington D.C. – The United States Congress ended the longest government shutdown in the nation’s history on Wednesday, a 43-day period of political gridlock that crippled federal operations and impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of employees.
The shutdown, which forced federal workers to either work without pay or stay home, cast a long shadow over President Trump’s administration and the deeply divided Congress. President Trump signed the bill to reopen the government into law Wednesday evening.
During the signing ceremony at the White House, surrounded by applauding Republican lawmakers, President Trump accused Democrats of “extortion” and declared that the United States would “never give in to pressure.”
The House of Representatives, with a narrow Republican majority, passed the funding package previously approved by the Senate, effectively reopening government departments and agencies. However, some Democrats expressed dissatisfaction, calling it an “unjustified retreat” by their party’s leadership.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, in a fiery speech before the vote, stated, “They knew the shutdown would cause suffering, and they did it anyway… The whole thing was wrong and evil.”
Under the agreement, approximately 670,000 government employees will return to work, and a similar number who continued working without pay, including over 60,000 air traffic controllers and airport security personnel, will receive their back pay. Furloughed employees will also be reinstated, and air travel will gradually resume after unprecedented disruptions.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the shutdown resulted in a loss of approximately $14 billion in economic growth. Opinion polls indicated that a majority of Americans held Republicans and President Trump responsible for the crisis.
While the agreement ended the government paralysis that lasted over six weeks, it exposed the deep political divisions in Washington, particularly regarding the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” which was a central point of contention between the two parties.
With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, analysts suggest that the shutdown crisis, despite its resolution, may have long-term political ramifications for the Republican Party and President Trump, who returns to the White House facing growing internal opposition and increasing economic challenges. The impacts of this shutdown are expected to be felt for months to come. The political landscape has been significantly altered.
