Government shutdown ends as Trump signs funding bill, capping longest lapse ever

The longest government shutdown in modern U.S. history came to a close Wednesday night when President Trump signed a bill to fund the government through Jan. 30, ending a 43-day-long impasse.

The shutdown impacted 42 million federal food aid recipients, 670,000 furloughed federal employees and 4,000 government workers who faced layoffs. It also threatened more than $7 billion in economic damage.

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The longest government shutdown in history came to an end on Wednesday, after a Senate breakthrough ended weeks of gridlock that caused air travel disruptions, denied access to food benefits to millions and forced thousands of federal workers to go without paychecks.

The standoff stretches back to late September. House Republicans passed a short-term measure to keep the government open after funding lapsed on Sept. 30, but Democratic support was necessary to move the bill through the Senate. And with few opportunities to exert influence, Democrats set out to center health care issues in the funding fight — setting their sights on extending a set of expiring health insurance tax credits in exchange for their votes.

For most of the ensuing 43-day-long shutdown, Republicans and Democrats traded blame for the funding impasse, and each side remained largely united. But throughout it all, member-level bipartisan conversations seeking an off-ramp were bubbling under the surface. 

Last weekend, the deal to end the shutdown finally came together.

Read more here.

President Trump blasted Democrats during a ceremony to sign the government funding bill, accusing Democrats of trying to "extort American taxpayers" by pushing to extend health insurance subsidies.

"We're sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion," Mr. Trump said.

He thanked congressional GOP leaders — some of whom were in the Oval Office — as well as the eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus who voted for the bill. But he had harsh words for most Democrats.

"I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this when we come up to midterms," he said.

Mr. Trump also said he's willing to work with Democrats on health care — though it remains unclear if there's a deal to be made. 

He renewed his push to give the money currently used for health insurance tax credits "directly to the people of our country" rather than to insurance companies. It's not clear exactly how such an arrangement would work, though some Republicans have suggested sending money to Americans in savings accounts.

In the Oval Office late Wednesday night, the president signed the legislation to fund and reopen the government. 

Mr. Trump chose to sign the legislation on camera, with reporters present. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday morning about a controversial provision included in the government funding package that allows senators to sue for up to $500,000 if their phone records were subpoenaed without their knowledge. 

Thune "regretted the way it was done," Johnson said. 

"I was so surprised when we found out about that provision that was put in our clean [continuing resolution] at the last moment," he said. "I was very angry about it. I was." 

Johnson said many of his members asked if he was aware of the provision. 

"I had no idea. That was dropped in at the last minute. I did not appreciate that," he said. 

Johnson said he expects the House to pass a bill next week to repeal the provision, but that he did not ask Thune for a commitment that the Senate would take it up. But he expects the Senate also to repeal it, he said.

"I didn't ask him for any commitment at that time, because I had a lot on my plate today," he said. "But I'm going to speak as truthfully to him as I am to all of you, and tell you that I think that was way out of line. I don't think that was a smart thing to do. 

The provision appears to let GOP senators sue over steps that the Justice Department took during special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President Trump related to the 2020 election. In October, Senate Republicans revealed an FBI document that showed investigators had obtained phone record data from eight senators and one congressman for calls they made in the days before and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The House passed a funding package to end the 43-day shutdown late Wednesday. 

In a 222 to 209 vote, six Democrats voted with almost all Republicans to send the bill to President Trump's desk. Two Republicans voted against its passage. 

The package, which made it out of the Senate earlier this week, includes three full-year appropriations bills, while extending the remainder of government funding until Jan. 30, setting up another funding fight early next year. 

Mr. Trump is expected to sign the bill around 9:45 p.m. in the Oval Office. 

Democratic Reps. Jared Golden, Adam Gray, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Don Davis, Henry Cuellar and Tom Suozzi voted for the government funding bill, breaking with the rest of their party.

All six lawmakers represent swing districts. Golden, who is not running for reelection next year, was the lone Democrat to support a GOP-backed government funding package in September.

Meanwhile, two Republicans voted no: Reps. Thomas Massie and Greg Steube.

The House is voting on a funding package to reopen the government, a final hurdle to end the longest shutdown in modern history. If it passes, it will go to President Trump's desk.

Moments before voting on the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson excoriated Democrats for their handling of the government shutdown, blaming them for the impasse.

"They knew that would cause pain, and they did it anyway," he said. "The whole exercise was pointless. It was wrong. It was cruel.

In a floor speech before the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats will not stop fighting for affordable health care and to bring down the cost of living. 

"This fight is not over. We're just getting started," Jeffries said. 

Jeffries argued Republicans have shown "a consistent unwillingness" to find common ground with Democrats during the shutdown to make Americans' lives better. 

"Either Republicans finally decide to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits this year, or the American people will throw Republicans out of their jobs next year and end the speakership of Donald J. Trump once and for all," he said. 

Jeffries has said that Mr. Trump is the real speaker because of the sway he holds over the House Republican conference and Speaker Mike Johnson. 

The shutdown blame game continued during the final hour of debate before the House's vote on passage. 

Both parties accused the other of inflicting pain on Americans through the shutdown and not appropriately addressing the rising costs of health care. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Wednesday night that the lower chamber will vote next week on whether to force the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. The decision expedites the timeline that was expected. 

Newly sworn-in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva added her signature Wednesday to a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release the files. Her signature started the clock on a waiting period of seven legislative days before a member can motion to bring it to the floor. After that, leadership has two legislative days to schedule a vote, putting the timeline for a vote as soon as early December.

But Johnson said Wednesday night he would bypass the seven-day waiting period and put it on the floor next week. 

"We're going to put that on the floor for a full vote next week, as soon as we get back," he told reporters. 

Even if the bill passes the House, it's unclear if the Senate will take it up, and President Trump could veto it.

Read more here. 

By Ibrahim Aksoy and Caitlin Yilek 

The House advanced the funding package in a procedural vote to adopt the rule that governs debate. The vote ended with 213 Republicans voting in favor and 209 Democrats voting against. 

Now, lawmakers will debate the bill for about another hour. A vote on final passage is expected soon after that. 

The first hour of debate has concluded. The House is holding two procedural votes, which will lead to another hour of debate before final passage. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CBS News that Democrats will still press to extend a slate of expiring health insurance subsidies, as a 43-day-long government shutdown nears a possible end without the health care provisions that many in his party viewed as a dealbreaker.

"House Democrats are in this fight until we win this fight," Jeffries said in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor John Dickerson. "This fight is not over for us. We're just getting started."

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During debate on the rule for the Senate-passed bill to reopen the government, House Republicans continued to criticize Democrats over the shutdown, accusing them of performing "political theater" to score points with the base. But they occasionally admitted that there were parts of the Senate-passed bill that they did not want enacted into law. 

"I never said that this bill was perfect," GOP Rep. Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota said, garnering laughs from Democrats in the chamber. 

But Fischbach said the priority was to reopen the government. 

After a GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia said he would introduce legislation to repeal part of the bill, Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said: "They're all introducing legislation to repeal provisions in the bill that they're going to vote yes on. Figure that out." 

Democrats denounced Republicans for refusing to negotiate on the expiring health care tax credits and accused Republicans of being on "vacation" during the nearly two-month recess. 

The House is beginning debate on the rule providing consideration for the Senate-passed bill. The debate is expected to last about an hour, at which point the House will take a procedural vote to adopt the rule, paving the way for debate on and passage of the funding bill itself.

In remarks on the House floor, Grijalva called out Johnson for delaying her swearing-in. 

"Fifty days that over 800,000 Arizonans have been left without access to the basic services that every constituent deserves — that is an abuse of power," she said. "One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing in of a duly elected member of Congress for political reasons." 

Her criticism of Johnson received rowdy applause from Democrats in the chamber. 

Grijalva said she would sign the Epstein discharge petition "right now." 

"Justice cannot wait another day," she said. 

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie stood beside her as she signed the petition. 

The House is back in full session for the first time since it voted to pass the original continuing resolution on Sept. 19. 

You can watch a live stream of the House floor in the player at the top of this page.

The first order of business was the swearing in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva. Members will then begin debating the rule setting the terms for debate on the Senate-passed funding package. After the vote on the rule, the chamber will debate the measure itself before voting on final passage. That vote is expected in the 7 p.m. hour.

House Speaker Mike Johnson administered the oath of office to Democrat Adelita Grijalva in the chamber, seven weeks after she won a special election in Arizona. 

"Congratulations," Johnson said after Grijalva said, "I do." 

Grijalva entered the House chamber to applause from her Democratic colleagues and received a standing ovation before and after she took the oath of office. 

Johnson's reasons for not swearing in Grijalva have shifted over the last several weeks. During the first week of the shutdown, Johnson said he would administer the oath "as soon as she wants." But Johnson has also said that it would happen as soon as the House returns, that the delay was the result of a scheduling issue and that his decision to wait was "following the precedent." 

Read more here. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans will introduce a measure to repeal a controversial provision tucked in the Senate-passed funding package that would allow senators to sue for up to $500,000 if their data is seized or subpoenaed by federal law enforcement without notification. The provision was an apparent response to senators' phone records being collected by FBI investigators as part of special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President Trump and the 2020 election.

"House Republicans are introducing standalone legislation to repeal this provision that was included by the Senate in the government funding bill," Johnson wrote on X. "We are putting this legislation on the fast track suspension calendar in the House for next week." 

Several House Republicans on the Rules Committee expressed opposition to the provision Tuesday night, suggesting they wanted to support a Democratic amendment to strip it from the bill. But making any changes to the package would have required the House to send it back to the Senate, extending the shutdown. 

There's an unexpected consequence inside the deal to end the federal government shutdown: making hemp products illegal.

At Surdyk's in northeast Minneapolis, THC drinks stand out for their popularity.

"There's teas, there's ones that are more like soda," said co-owner Melissa Surdyk.

The drinks make up for 10% of sales at her liquor and cheese shop, according to Surdyk.

"It's a product that we want to continue to have on our shelves and offer to customers, and you know, give them what they want and what they're asking for," Surdyk said.

As part of the Senate compromise to end the government shutdown, THC would be limited to 0.4 milligrams per container, a fraction of the 5 milligrams per serving contained in Surdyk's THC drinks. The Hemp Industry & Farmers of America said in a statement that the Senate ban could result in the "devastation of an entire industry," noting that the provision would "ban Delta-8 products, THCA flower, and virtually all hemp-derived cannabinoid products."

Bob Galligan, director of government and industry relations for the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild, is a lobbyist for well over 100 Minnesota craft breweries, most of which, he said, have turned to THC as consumers drink less alcohol. He said, "The language as it stands right now, if it were to go through, decimation is a pretty accurate word." Galligan believes the 0.4 milligram amount was chosen since it's imperceptible to the human body.

The ban would not be implemented for a year.

Read more from CBS News Minnesota here.

Jeffries filed a discharge petition to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years.

The petition, which would circumvent House GOP leadership, requires at least 218 signatures from House members to force a floor vote on the issue. 

Speaking at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol, Jeffries called on House Republicans to join Democrats in their effort to extend health insurance tax credits. If all Democrats sign on to it, at least four Republicans would need to cross the aisle and support it.

"We're calling upon our Republican colleagues to join us and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits," he said. "And we will be working hard today, tomorrow and throughout the balance of this year to make sure that those Affordable Care Act tax credits are extended."

Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said House Democrats would introduce the legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years "to make sure that tens of millions of Americans don't experience dramatically increased premiums, copays and deductibles." 

Jeffries said House Democrats are "ready to continue this battle on the House floor."

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump claimed that "Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they'll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they've done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects."

He wrote that "only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap." Multiple Republicans have signed onto a discharge petition that would force the Justice Department to release additional materials related to the Epstein case. House Democrats' release of Epstein-related emails earlier Wednesday and the anticipated swearing in of Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva have brought the issue to the forefront ahead of the vote to end the shutdown.

"There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!" Mr. Trump wrote. 

Leavitt said consumer price index data and the jobs reports for October will "likely never" be released, hampering the Federal Reserve as it determines rate cuts and other monetary policy. The Labor Department said during the shutdown that staffing shortages had hampered the ability of the department to conduct surveys that form the basis of the reports.

"The Democrats may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system, with October CPI and jobs reports likely never being released," Leavitt said. "And all of that economic data released will be permanently impaired, leaving our policymakers at the Fed flying blind at a critical period." 

Although there was no federal jobs report for October, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found layoffs across the country increased to more than 153,000, the worst October for job reductions in more than two decades. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats' proposal to extend the expiring health care credits for three years is in line with the last extension. 

The tax credits were originally passed in 2021 during the pandemic and extended in 2022 for another three years.

"The legislation that we will introduce in the context of the discharge petition will provide that level of certainty to working-class Americans," Jeffries said. 

Jeffries told CBS News he will likely file the discharge petition aimed at forcing a vote on the issue on Wednesday. 

He added that Senate Republicans were offered a "very reasonable" proposal from Senate Democrats to extend the tax credits for one year but rejected it "because Republicans have zero interest in fixing the health care crisis that they created." 

When asked whether he was still willing to negotiate with Republicans on the issue, Jeffries told CBS News that Democrats have "always been willing to negotiate in a bipartisan way, but Republicans have been unwilling to sit down and even have a conversation with Democrats." 

Nikole Killion and Caitlin Yilek

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House is "very hopeful" the government shutdown will end tonight, blaming Democrats for the longest shutdown in U.S. history. 

"Tonight, thanks to Republicans, the White House is very hopeful that this shutdown is going to come to an end," Leavitt said during Wednesday's press briefing. 

"Our economy has lost billions and billions of dollars in economic activity over the course of this shutdown, hurting consumer sentiment and crushing the travel and hospitality industries," she said. "According to a CBO estimate, the Democrat shutdown could end up decreasing fourth-quarter economic growth by two whole percentage points." 

The White House has dismissed Congressional Budget Office data as unreliable and biased in the past. 

Leavitt said the measure the House will vote on to reopen the government Wednesday night "is what President Trump and Republicans have supported from day one." She said the president may allow cameras into the room whenever he signs the bill to reopen the government.

House Democratic leadership will file a discharge petition to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years, according to two sources familiar with the plans. 

The petition would need at least 218 signatures from House members to force a floor vote on the issue. If all Democrats sign on to it, at least four Republicans would need to cross the aisle and support it, though the length of the proposed extension is likely to face pushback within the GOP. 

Democratic leadership were unsuccessful in their attempt to attach an amendment to the funding bill to extend the tax credits during the House Rules Committee meeting.  

— Jaala Brown and Patrick Maguire 

In a statement of administrative policy, the White House's Office of Management and Budget voiced its support for the Senate-passed funding package to reopen the government.

"This bill finally puts an end to the senseless Government shutdown — the longest in history — forced upon the American people by congressional Democrats," the statement said. 

The White House urged lawmakers "to support this responsible, good faith product to finally put an end to the longest shutdown in history," pledging that the president will sign it into law should it reach his desk.

The House is expected to begin the vote on final passage of the funding bill between 7 and 7:30 p.m., according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer's office.

The chamber will meet at 4 p.m. for the swearing in of Grijalva before proceeding to debate over the rule for the final bill. The vote on the rule is expected at 5 to 5:30 p.m.

The rule's adoption clears the way for the House to begin floor debate on the government funding package. House GOP leadership expects a final vote to take place sometime within the 7 p.m. hour.

Once the House votes on the funding bill, the chamber will be done for the week.

The conservative House Freedom Caucus touted the Senate-passed funding package as "a complete and total win," according to an internal messaging document provided to CBS News from a source familiar with the matter. 

"This is now the fourth time we have successfully blocked an omnibus spending bill (September 2024, December 2024, March 2025 and now)," the talking points read. "This package demonstrates that we can govern without surrendering to big spending or letting Democrats dictate priorities." 

It continues: "We successfully stiff-armed a massive omnibus spending bill; locked in disciplined, flat spending levels; preserved President Trump's policy priorities as well as his already announced project cancellations and rescissions (and defended his ability to do more); and kept our leverage for the next round in January." 

The document indicates that most, if not all, members of the group are on board with voting for passage of the final bill. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters he's hopeful "we're going to get this government back open today."

Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, outlined that votes in the House will begin around 5 p.m., with final votes around 7 p.m. following debate on the bill. He said he's "very confident the bill's going to pass."

On the health care issue that was at the center of Democrats' push in the shutdown fight, Scalise reiterated that House Republicans, unlike in the Senate, wouldn't commit to holding a vote on health insurance tax credits that Democrats have sought to extend. But he said Republicans are "always willing to work with Democrats to move good policy that helps American families."

Asked whether he would put a Senate-passed bill on the Affordable Care Act on the floor, Scalise said "I've got to see whatever they might pass."

"If they're just looking at shoveling money to insurance companies to mask the high cost of Obamacare, that's a nonstarter," he said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke with reporters at the Capitol, saying "we believe the long national nightmare will be over tonight."

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, predicted that he'll have the votes to approve the Senate-passed funding package this evening.

"We're very optimistic about the vote tally tonight," he said. "We think this is going to happen, and we're sorry that it took this long."

The speaker put the blame on Democrats for refusing to support a short-term measure to reopen the government over the course of 14 votes in the Senate and one in the House. He said "they have a lot to answer for."

"It was completely and utterly foolish and pointless in the end, as we've said all along," Johnson said. "I just want to apologize to any Americans who are out there who still have flight cancellations or delays today. I want to apologize to the many American families who were made to go hungry over the last several weeks, our troops and other federal employees who were wondering where their next paycheck would come from. All of that's on the Democrats."

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails exchanged between  Jeffrey Epstein and others about President Trump.

Among the documents is a 2011 message from Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell that said Mr. Trump "spent hours at my house" with one of Epstein's victims, whose name is redacted. In another email in 2019 to author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote, "Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop."

Mr. Trump has previously said he cut ties with Epstein years ago, and he has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Read more here.

According to a Democratic leadership aide, here's how Adelita Grijalva's swearing-in is expected to play out.

The lower chamber is set to reconvene at 4 p.m., when Johnson will administer the oath of office to Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who was elected on Sept. 23 to replace her late father. Arizona Reps. Paul Gosar, a Republican, and Greg Stanton, a Democrat, are expected to give brief remarks, followed by remarks from Grijalva. 

After her remarks, Grijalva is expected to sign a petition to force a vote on releasing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The House Rules Committee advanced the Senate-passed funding package overnight, teeing it up for floor action this afternoon. A final vote is expected this evening.

During the hours-long meeting, which began at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, House Democrats hammered their Republican colleagues for refusing to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which expire at the end of the year, and being absent from Washington for nearly eight weeks. Republicans took digs at Democrats, blaming them for unneccessarily shutting down the government to please the far left. 

Among the amendments offered by Democrats during the meeting was one to extend the expiring health care tax credits for three years and another to strip a provision in the bill that would allow senators to sue for up to $500,000 for data seizures or subpoenas like those after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Both amendments failed. 

Some committee Republicans denounced the provision allowing senators to sue over data seizures, but said the House couldn't amend the bill to remove it because it would prolong the shutdown if it had to be sent back to the Senate. 

"It is beside my comprehension that this got put in the bill, and it's why people have such a low opinion of this town," GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said. "That provision needs to get fixed, and we need to find a way as a body to get it fixed as soon as possible."  

The meeting ended around 1:30 a.m. with the panel voting along party lines to advance the funding package. 

The House returns Wednesday for the first time since the start of the government shutdown and nearly two months after it last voted, bringing an end to the chamber's longest absence in recent memory. 

The House has been out of session since Sept. 19, when it passed a Republican measure to fund the government. Arguing that the House had done its job after the vote, Johnson canceled weeks of votes and committee hearings were put on hold. 

"We have a lot of business to do," Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Monday. "There'll be long days and long nights here for the foreseeable future to make up for all this lost time that was imposed upon us." 

Read more here.