The House of Representatives approved a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through Jan. 30, ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history after 43 days. The measure passed Wednesday night along a narrow partisan line, with a final vote of 222 to 209. Six House Democrats joined Republicans: Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (North Carolina), Adam Gray (California), Jared Golden (Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington) and Tom Suozzi (New York). Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (Kentucky) and Greg Steube (Florida), voted against the bill.
President Trump was expected to sign the bill Wednesday night, allowing many furloughed federal employees to return to work on Thursday. The continuing resolution holds most agencies at last year’s spending levels through the end of January and provides funding for some programs through next September, including payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP — which serves nearly one in eight Americans — had been affected by litigation and interruptions tied to the shutdown. The bill also cancels administration-imposed layoffs during the shutdown, provides back pay for affected federal employees and adds protections against further staffing cuts.
However, lawmakers did not resolve the central policy fight that sparked the shutdown: extensions of enhanced Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies set to expire at year’s end. As part of a deal struck with a bipartisan group of senators, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) agreed to hold a mid-December vote on Democratic legislation to extend those subsidies, but many Senate Democrats expressed skepticism about that commitment. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said a handshake agreement to reopen the government without firm guarantees to reduce costs was not sufficient, explaining her opposition.
Even if the Senate follows through with a subsidy extension, the measure would still need approval in the House, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has not pledged to bring such a bill to the floor.
Observers note that shutdowns rarely yield lasting policy victories, and the past six weeks reinforced that pattern. Some Senate Democrats initially refused to vote to fund the government before Oct. 1 to press for subsidy negotiations, a stance partly driven by pressure from their political base and following earlier concessions by other Democrats who voted to avert a March shutdown. Republicans countered by funding agencies in stages rather than trading full funding for policy concessions.
Meanwhile millions of Americans felt the shutdown’s ripple effects: SNAP recipients missed expected benefits, many Transportation Security Administration employees and air traffic controllers worked without pay prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce flights at times, and countless federal workers went without paychecks. A bipartisan group of senators who voted to end the shutdown argued that prolonging the standstill would not improve the outcome but would increase hardship on ordinary people, a point highlighted by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
Looking ahead, both parties face choices that could shape their standing heading into next year. Senate Democrats have roughly a month to craft a subsidy-extension bill that could attract enough Republican support to pass. Some Republicans have signaled willingness to consider extensions if the legislation includes reforms such as fraud prevention and income caps. Regardless, the government is funded only until Jan. 30, and Congress still must pass nine remaining appropriations bills before the continuing resolution expires.