Government shutdown ends after 43 days, as House approves and Trump signs funding deal

 WASHINGTON — The longest-ever U.S. government shutdown came to an end Wednesday night as President Donald Trump signed a funding bill narrowly approved by the House earlier in the evening.

Through 43 days of federal closure, congressional Democrats and Republicans waged a historic and bitter fight mostly over health care that caused collateral damage beyond Washington, from coast to coast.

Trump, in an Oval Office bill signing ceremony, took aim at Democrats, accusing them of not supporting a short-term spending bill “purely for political reasons.”

“Today, we're sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion, because that's what it was, they tried to extort – the Democrats tried to extort our country,” Trump said, surrounded by congressional Republican leaders.

The 222-209 approval by the House ran mostly along party lines. But Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) was one of six Democrats to cross party lines and vote yes. 

Suozzi posted on X that he is relying on Republicans to work toward a solution on the health care issue.

"Everyone knows that I have been preaching bipartisanship for years," Suozzi posted. "I am relying on the representations of some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, that they want to get something done to extend the premium tax credits."

The funding package will ensure that full food assistance will soon go out, federal operations and contracting will restart, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will get paid and air travel disruptions will wind down.

Precisely how soon each agency and operation of government can shift back to full gear was not immediately clear, due to notification of workers and other wrinkles, experts say. More than 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP food aid benefits — including 160,000 Long Islanders and 3 million New Yorkers — have so far received only partial payments for November.

Long Island Republican Reps. Andrew Garbarino, of Bayport, and Nick LaLota, of Amityville, voted with most of their party in favor of the package. Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen, of Rockville Centre, stuck with fellow Democrats.

Gillen said the bill was insufficient because it did not include the health subsidies Democrats sought. 

“The spending bill passed today does nothing to prevent hardworking Long Islanders from being priced out of their health care,” Gillen said.

But LaLota said the deal will benefit Long Island.

"Our bipartisan agreement responsibly funds the government through January while fully supporting Long Island priorities — from the 106th Rescue Wing and our Coast Guard stations, to the Northport VA Medical Center and Brookhaven National Lab," he said in a statement.

Garbarino issued a statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown. 

“Republicans have been clear from the very beginning: the government must stay open, our troops must be paid, and essential services must continue,” Garbarino said. “Democrats’ delay did nothing but hurt the very people they claim to fight for."

Senate battle

The main venue for this political fight was in the Senate, where procedural rules enabled Democrats — despite being in the chamber’s minority — to block advancement of a House-passed bill to keep government funded by withholding enough of their votes.

That Republican bill had been written as a tide-over to last until late November because none of the 12 regular annual bills that fund government agencies were completed by Oct. 1, the start of a new federal fiscal year.

But Democrats sought to force health care language onto the measure. Their main demand was to extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies that make health care cheaper for millions of Americans. Republicans refused, and the record-setting stalemate began.

Then on Sunday, seven mostly moderate Democrats and an independent who normally caucus with them joined Republicans in a deal to reopen the government, without that subsidy renewal. Those Democrats say they were given a promise of a future vote on those tax breaks, but others in the party called that meaningless.

Their decision was seen as a cave and caused anger by some within their party — including against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who voted against the deal — because it came less than a week after Democrats scored victories in an off-year election. Some Democrats believe their shutdown stance was providing new electoral momentum.

Funding extension

The bill that those eight senators agreed with Republicans to support extends temporary funding until Jan. 30 for most of government, and includes three of the 12 full-year spending bills through Sept. 30, 2026.

The bill also includes protections for federal workers against reduction in workforce actions by the administration, as well as funding toward some local projects. 

Ultimately, Democrats failed in their central aim to include the ACA subsidies extension.

"The Democrats kept dragging this reckless government shutdown on for weeks longer to boost their turnout in an election," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday before the vote.

But others say Democrats did, in fact, succeed in putting a greater spotlight on rising health care costs, the spikes in insurance premiums at the close of this year, and the actions or inactions of Republicans that have impacted health care.

"Democrats won the shutdown fight because long after the dust settles on how it ended, what voters will remember is that Republicans wouldn't lift a finger to rein in soaring health care costs just months after they passed a bill giving massive tax breaks for billionaires," said Brad Woodhouse, a veteran Democratic strategist and current president of Protect Our Care, a progressive health care group.

A late October Reuters/Ipsos poll found 50% of Americans blamed Republicans for the shutdown, while 43% blamed Democrats.

William Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, predicts that health care affordability will reign as a key Democratic agenda item in the 2026 midterm elections.

But Hoagland also pointed toward the end of January — when another government spending bill will be necessary — and said he sees even the possibility of another shutdown, with the ACA subsidies again central.

"Nobody wins — Republicans, Democrats, presidents — nobody," Hoagland said Wednesday. "Big losers are the public and further erosion of trust in government."