The Smithsonian’s popular National Air and Space Museum in D.C. is one of the first museums that reopened to the public Friday after a monthlong closure during the government shutdown.
The Smithsonian’s popular National Air and Space Museum was one of the first museums that reopened to the public Friday after a monthlong closure during the government shutdown.
People touring the huge facility in D.C. said they’re very happy to see it reopened.
“We live here,” Kyle Owens said. “So it’s nice to be back out.”
Kyle and Kate Owens are happy to be playing the role of D.C.-area tour guide for their friend Josh Stewart and his son who came visit from North Carolina.
“We planned to come see Kate and Kyle several weeks ago, I think before the shutdown and we were really looking forward to seeing everything and then we heard everything was shutdown and we thought maybe we can get these tickets on faith,” Stewart said.
Luckily it all worked out.
“It’s nice to take the kids out and see things open,” Kate said. “Like we prefer them to be.”
It turns out, Kyle is a big fan of the museums.
“It’s nice to be out and be open and take advantage of all of the things D.C. has available,” Kyle said.
Several school groups are also resuming tours of the museums, including students from Eden, Minnesota. John and Jenna Tap were serving as chaperones for 34 high school seniors.
John is in an administrative role at the school.
“It’s a four-day trip. The itinerary is made before we come,” John said. “We are thankful we were able to access as much as we could in the early days. We made some adjustments. So, we are thankful we were able to get in today.”
Along with hundreds of other people, the students saw the famous Apollo Lunar Module, the Wright Brothers’ first aircraft and dozens of other aviation-related exhibits.
“We’ve really enjoyed the historical aspect of it,” John said. “This is my first time in D.C. This is my first science museum. Our students are walking around, having a great time.”
Museum officials said, because of the government shutdown, some exhibits at the Smithsonian’s museums may reopen on a delay, but it is nothing that visitors would notice.
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It’s the end of the week that marked the end of a record-breaking government shutdown. Federal workers went back to their jobs yesterday.
Here’s a look at what we covered this week.
Monday
Olivier scrutinized President Donald Trump’s pledge of a $2,000 “dividend” for most Americans from the revenues his import duties have generated.
“We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion,” he said on social media. “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
We … have some questions.
“Analysts say the payout could total $300 billion or more,” Olivier wrote. “The Treasury Department’s final fiscal year 2025 report says the government collected $195 billion from all customs duties currently in effect. The Budget Lab at Yale University estimates Trump’s tariffs could generate an average of $260 billion annually through 2035.”
Tuesday
The biggest news of the week was the end of the government shutdown, so Olivier detailed some key features of the deal, including Democrats caving on their primary ask.
“Democrats’ main goal in rejecting Republican spending legislation and shutting down the government had been to force the GOP to negotiate over the renewal of Obamacare subsidies that are due to expire, which would send premiums rocketing skyward for millions of Americans,” Olivier wrote. “What Democrats settled for instead was a promise of a Senate vote on renewing the subsidies.”
Other notable bits include the resumption of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and bringing back air traffic controllers who were furloughed during the shutdown.
But, as always, don’t get too comfortable. The deal only funds the government into January.
That’s according to a recent study we examined here from the Budget Lab at Yale University.
“Overall, our metrics indicate that the broader labor market has not experienced a discernible disruption since ChatGPT’s release 33 months ago, undercutting fears that AI automation is currently eroding the demand for cognitive labor across the economy,” the report says.
AI doomer Olivier noted, however, that “just because the report did not find sweeping effects from AI to date, that doesn’t mean that AI won’t eventually bring about those kinds of changes.”
The report acknowledges that “it is too soon to tell how disruptive the technology will be to jobs.”
Thursday
In Olivier’s regional rundown, he detailed the latest development in the GOP’s efforts to push for redistricting in multiple states in an effort to keep their majority in the House. In Utah, a federal judge ruled this week that an electoral map drawn up by legislators to strengthen the GOP hold unfairly favored Republicans.
Meanwhile, a new study on the impact of a cell phone ban at a large urban district in Florida found average test scores rose by 1.1 percentiles in schools with previously high student cell phone usage in 2024-25, the year after a cell phone ban took effect.
Lastly, the Colorado Sun reported this week that the Centennial State’s efforts to grow its wolf population are struggling, hampered by federal regulations and the death of a 10th reintroduced wolf.
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Vital federal funding is on the way for Head Start centers that were thrown into crisis by the government shutdown, but it could take time before some children who rely on the federal program can return to preschool.
Some centers that missed out on federal payments had to furlough staff. Others had to shut down entirely, destabilizing thousands of needy families around the country. And operators fear it could take weeks more for overdue payments to be processed.
Even when agencies receive long-delayed grant money, centers will have to rehire staff members and bring back families — both of which may have grown wary of instability in the program, which relies almost entirely on federal grants.
“The damage has been done in a lot of ways,” Massachusetts Head Start Association Executive Director Michelle Haimowitz said. “We know that it’s going to take some time to fill back up.”
Head Start serves children from low-income families from birth to age 5. The program offers a variety of services to families, such as early learning, support for children with disabilities, free meals and health screenings.
With the shutdown over, the federal Office of Head Start will expedite funding and contact affected Head Start programs to share when they can expect federal money, said Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program.
Head Start operators anticipate that could take weeks.
Federal workers are returning to “a mountain of work” that will take time to process, Haimowitz said. That doesn’t just include sending out missed grant awards — other paperwork for a range of technical issues has been delayed since layoffs at the Office of Head Start earlier this year, she said.
“Those delays have just been piling up since April, with no fault to the existing civil servants at the Office of Head Start,” Haimowitz said. “They just have half the capacity that they had just a few months ago.”
Families prepare for the worst-case scenario
Depending on how quickly federal workers can send out funds, the backlog in grant renewals could spill over and affect Head Start agencies that are supposed to receive funding in December, operators said. Some of the families who attend those centers are already making preparations for that worst-case scenario.
Gena Storer, who works as a home health aide in Xenia, Ohio, is trying to “make as much money as I possibly can” in case her daughter’s Head Start center closes. The center staff told parents hours before the government reopened that they still expect to shutter temporarily on Dec. 1 if funding is delayed, Storer said.
If the center closes, Storer’s 4-year-old daughter, Zarina, will stay at home until it reopens. Storer will then need to adjust her work hours to make sure she can be home with Zarina while her fiance works 12-hour shifts at a Target distribution center.
Uncertainty about SNAP federal food aid payments has also added stress for Storer’s family. Storer had been working extra hours through the shutdown to help provide for her 72-year-old mother, who also uses SNAP benefits.
“If my mom didn’t have us to help her, what would she do?” the 31-year-old said.
For Storer, Head Start has been more than a reliable option for child care. Zarina used to receive speech therapy to address her lack of speaking. But since starting Head Start in September, Storer said she’s noticed her daughter becoming more talkative and outgoing because she learns from having conversations with her classmates.
Programs pay out-of-pocket to keep doors open
Programs that stayed open without a guarantee of reimbursement by the federal government could also face further financial strains. At Louis Russ’ home day care in Knox County, Indiana, he and his wife are planning a pop-up toy shop out of their garage to offset money they might lose by staying open.
Russ and his wife started operating a day care out of their home in April and partnered soon after with East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, a nonprofit that serves children of migrant farmworkers across 10 states. Six out of the eight children in Russ’ home day care are Head Start-funded.
East Coast Migrant Head Start Project was one of the programs affected by a funding lapse, which resulted in more than 1,000 children being shut out of their centers. Russ and his wife also stopped receiving their Head Start payments at the end of October, but the decision to keep their home open was a “no brainer,” Russ said. Offering the children consistency during an otherwise unpredictable time was important to them, he said.
“Staying open and keep taking the children we have, that was the easy part,” he said. “Figuring out how we’re going to stay open if this goes on too long, that’s the tricky part.”
It’s been tense operating the program without knowing when funding will be released. Russ and his wife already took a pay cut, and they have another employee on the payroll. About three-quarters of their budget is payroll, Russ said, but other expenses like groceries and maintenance needs can stack up quickly without an income.
“Our program, being so new, we were running pretty bare bones as is,” Russ said. “And especially in child care, which doesn’t have a huge profit margin, there’s only so much wiggle room when things like this happen.”
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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — As states across the country scramble to issue the full SNAP benefits that nearly 42 million nationwide and 2.9 million in the Sunshine State depend upon, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins said Thursday that most recipients will receive their payments by Monday at the latest.
Although the restoration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) after the 43-day government shutdown will provide relief, many people are still likely to experience food insecurity afterward, according to a local nonprofit leader.
What You Need To Know
SNAP recipients can expect to receive full benefits again by Monday, according to the U.S. Agriculture secretary
But for many, the fear of not knowing where they will get their next meal remains
One widowed, single mother who is dependent on SNAP says she struggled to keep food on the table for her and her 14-year-old son during the government shutdown
Meanwhile, the leader of one local nonprofit says that food insecurity and demand have not been so high since the COVID-19 pandemic
Single widowed mother Jen Hall, who is a SNAP recipient, described the past month as “challenging” as she struggled to put food on the table for her and her 14-year-old son.
Even before the government shutdown, however, Hall says her SNAP benefits were shrinking. In order to be deemed eligible for SNAP, she has to recertify every six months. But the last time she recertified prior to the shutdown, her monthly allowance dropped from around $160 to just $24 a month.
“It was a challenge to not know when things are coming,” Hall says. “We’ve got the holidays coming up. There’s lots of things coming up, but also, every day people need to eat.”
Hall is permanently disabled and still grieving the loss of her husband, who passed away last year because of health complications following a workplace incident in 2022.
She says that her husband’s lack of adequate healthcare contributed to his death, which is why she firmly believes that food and healthcare are two basic human rights to which everybody should have access.
“When we’re looking at the government shutdown, it’s important to frame that as the choice was people dying from lack of healthcare or people going hungry, and both of those are lose-lose situations, and I happen to be one of those people who sits on both sides of those,” Hall says. “My husband died from lack of adequate healthcare. I would die if I lost health insurance, and I have no idea how I am going to continue to feed my son and I.”
Hall was in a car accident that left her permanently disabled years ago. Today, she relies on Medicare and Medicaid to get care. She says she has not been able to find a job because of the nature of her medical conditions.
“The other concern is that if I do attempt employment, there’s a good chance I will lose my health insurance, and without my health insurance, I will die,” she says.
During the shutdown, Hall sought help from the Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka, which provides an emergency food pantry to community members in need, including SNAP recipients like her.
Central Florida nonprofits like the Hope CommUnity Center are still short on food donations, leaders say.
“Food insecurity is even larger than what it was during the (COVID-19) pandemic,” Hope CommUnity Center Executive Director Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet says.
The increase in demand was exacerbated by recent federal cuts that forced them to be entirely dependent on donations from local churches and other nonprofits, he says.
The most demand Sousa-Lazaballet has seen comes from Social Security recipients and single mothers like Hall, he says.
“The majority of the people that we’re supporting are actually U.S. citizens who are in incredible need, and it is incredibly sad that in the richest country in the world, people are going hungry right now,” he says.
Sousa-Lazaballet is encouraging people to donate to local food drives or to nonprofits within their communities to help nonprofits fill the food insecurity gaps.
The federal government shutdown is over, but for hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans, relief remains out of reach for energy assistance.
State officials say the federally funded program could take up to 30 days for the money to get to Minnesota.
For Lynn Miller, who is retired and living on a fixed income, this energy assistance is crucial.
“It is always helpful to us,” Miller said. “Just wish we could get it going so we don’t have to deal with through the winter.”
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, is a federal program that provides assistance to low-income households. Minnesota received $125 million from it last year, which helped 125,000 households with utility bills through the state’s Energy Assistance Program, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
Lissa Pawlisch is the assistant commissioner with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and says those funds would typically already be flowing.
Now, households will not see funds for at least 30 days.
“We are strongly advocating that the federal government get the money out as quickly as possible,” Pawlisch said. “It’s starting to get cold and we need to get that money flowing.”
The good news: Pawlich says there has been great collaboration between service providers like Xcel Energy and Minnesota Power, who say they are working with customers.
Last year, about 63,000 Xcel Energy customers received approximately $33.1 million in energy assistance in Minnesota.
The number of Minnesota Power LIHEAP customers ranges between 8,000 and 10,000.
It’s important to note that starting Oct 1 through April, Minnesota’s Cold Weather Rule (CWR) went into effect, protecting income-eligible customers from disconnections during the heating season.
As of this week, state officials say 89,000 households have applied for energy assistance.
Flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports will remain at 6% instead of rising to 10% by the end of the week because more air traffic controllers are coming to work, officials said Wednesday.
The flight cuts were implemented last week as more air traffic controllers were calling out of work, citing stress and the need to take on second jobs — leaving more control towers and facilities short-staffed. Air traffic controllers missed two paychecks during the impasse.
The Department of Transportation said the flight reduction decision was made on recommendations from the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety team, after a “rapid decline” in controller callouts.
The 6% limit will stay in place while officials assess whether the air traffic system can safely return to normal operations, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, although he did not provide a timeline Wednesday.
“If the FAA safety team determines the trend lines are moving in the right direction, we’ll put forward a path to resume normal operations,” Duffy said in a statement.
Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Wednesday that safety remains their top priority and that all decisions will be guided by data.
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Delta struck an optimistic note about how much longer flight reductions would continue, saying in a statement the airline looked forward to bringing its “operation back to full capacity over the next few days.”
Since the restrictions took effect last Friday, more than 10,100 flights have been canceled, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. The FAA originally planned to ramp up flight cuts from 4% to 10% at the 40 airports.
The FAA said that worrisome safety data showed flight reductions were needed to ease pressure on the aviation system and help manage worsening staffing shortages at its air traffic control facilities as flight disruptions began to pile up.
Duffy has declined to share the specific safety data that prompted the flight cuts. But at a news conference Tuesday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, he cited reports of planes getting too close in the air, more runway incursions and pilot concerns about controllers’ responses.
The FAA’s list of 40 airports spans more than two dozen states and includes large hubs such as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago. The order requires all commercial airlines to make cuts at those airports.
Airlines for America, the trade group of U.S. airlines, posted on social media that it was grateful for the funding bill. It said reopening the government would allow U.S. airlines to restore operations ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday which is in about two weeks.
How long it will take for the aviation system to stabilize is unclear. The flight restrictions upended airline operations in just a matter of days. Many planes were rerouted and aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Airlines for America said earlier Wednesday that there would be residual effects for days.
Eric Chaffee, a Case Western Reserve professor who studies risk management, says airlines face complex hurdles, including rebuilding flight schedules that were planned months in advance.
Airline and hotel trade groups had earlier Wednesday urged the House to act quickly to end the shutdown, warning of potential holiday travel chaos.
Flight cuts disrupted other flights and crews, leading to more cancelations than the FAA required at first. The impact was worsened by unexpected controller shortages over the weekend and severe weather.
The CEO of the U.S. Travel Association said essential federal workers like air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration workers must be paid if “Congress ever goes down this foolish path again” and there is a shutdown.
“America cannot afford another self-inflicted crisis that threatens the systems millions rely on every day,” Geoff Freeman said in a statement.
_____
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
Federal government begins to reopen after record 43-day shutdown ends – CBS News
Watch CBS News
The federal government has started reopening after a record 43-day shutdown. Kris Van Cleave reports it could take some time for operations to get back to normal.
After lawmakers reached a deal to end the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history, hundreds of thousands of government workers who haven’t been paid are wondering when their paychecks could finally arrive.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a Senate-passed funding package, which President Trump signed into law, ending the 43-day-long shutdown.
Now that the funding bill has passed and the government is open again, federal workers are entitled to back pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019. The law covers both furloughed employees and those required to work without pay, requiring agencies to issue retroactive payments as soon as possible rather than waiting for scheduled pay dates.
When will federal workers get paid?
Some federal employees will receive back pay as soon as Sunday, according to a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), whose contents were first reported by Semafor. Other workers will have to wait until Wednesday, Nov. 19 to receive paychecks. The White House confirmed the memo’s contents to CBS News.
OMB, which laid out an agency-by-agency pay schedule for workers, is aiming to make all federal workers whole by Nov. 19, and instructed agencies to make payments to workers “expeditiously and accurately,” according to the memo.
Workers’ first post-shutdown paychecks will cover the period from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1, while pay for days worked after Nov. 1 will come later.
Air traffic controllers, who as essential workers were required to report to their jobs without pay during the shutdown, will receive their paychecks on November 17, according to the White House.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said on Thursday that some TSA agents who delivered “exemplary service” during the shutdown will receive a one-time, $10,000 bonus.
“We’re going to look at every individual that did exceptional service during this period of time when there were so many hardships,” she said at a press conference in Houston on Thursday.
The shutdown took a deep financial toll on federal workers, with some turning to bank loans to cover bills. About 1.4 million employees missed their first full paychecks on Oct. 24 after receiving only partial pay on Oct. 10.
The Navy Federal Credit Union, which serves military personnel, said it has seen a surge in interest for its no-interest loans since the shutdown began.
“More than 350,000 members enrolled for assistance — 18 times the enrollment in the 2018-19 shutdown,” said Heather Long, the credit union’s chief economist, in an email. “It’s one of many signs of how painful and uncertain this shutdown has been for many hard-working families.”
Under the 2019 law, workers who miss paychecks during a lapse in federal funding must be paid retroactively as soon as the shutdown ends. It directs agencies to issue back pay “at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates.”
That’s what happened after the 2018–19 shutdown, said Rachel Snyderman, managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
“In prior shutdowns, back pay has been paid at the earliest date possible after appropriations have been passed, regardless of scheduled pay dates,” she told CBS News. “At this time, we have every indication that this would move forward.”
At least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while roughly 730,000 worked without pay throughout the shutdown, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. If the shutdown had lasted through December 1, the group estimates about 4.5 million paychecks — totaling $21 billion — would have been delayed.
The National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will officially reopen tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 14.
Now that President Donald Trump signed the funding bill passed by Congress into law Wednesday night to end the government shutdown, D.C.’s Smithsonian museums will open their doors once again.
The National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will officially reopen Friday, according to a statement from the Smithsonian’s Office of Public Affairs.
All the other museums, National Zoo and research centers will reopen on a “rolling basis” by Monday, the statement said.
The Smithsonian shuttered its museums and the National Zoo on Oct. 12, after using last year’s funds to stay open during the first 11 days of the shutdown.
As a result, the National Zoo’s annual Halloween event, Boo at the Zoo, was canceled and visitors were unable to visit Smithsonian museums for over a month.
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Washington — The more than 1.4 million federal employees who have gone without pay during the 43-day government shutdown could begin getting paychecks as soon as this Sunday, while others will have to wait until next Wednesday, Nov. 19.
The pay schedule was laid out in an agency-by-agency projection by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. The memo was first reported by Semafor, and an OMB official confirmed its contents to CBS News.
Hundreds of thousands of essential employees continued working during the shutdown without pay, while nonessential employees were furloughed. Both groups are entitled to back pay for the paychecks they missed while the government was closed.
The administration has a goal of completing its list of backlogged payments by Nov. 19.
Differing dates among agencies are due to different pay schedules and payroll providers, an OMB official said. The official added that the original projected pay dates were supposed to be later, but the White House urged agencies to get checks out “expeditiously and accurately to not leave anyone waiting longer than necessary.”
Most of the first post-shutdown paychecks to employees will only include pay from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1. They will be limited to base pay, meaning no bonuses, overtime or benefits. Pay for days after Nov. 1, as well as for overtime or bonuses, will be issued in the next pay period.
Hundreds of people wait in line as World Central Kitchen provides free meals to federal employees and their families during the government shutdown in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5, 2025.
Rod Lamkey / AP
Up first are Army and non-Army civilian employees at the Defense Department, as well as staffers at the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Energy and Health and Human Services. Their paychecks are projected to be processed on Sunday, Nov. 16. The checks will include base pay and payments for overtime and hazard pay.
More than 150,000 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, National Science Foundation, Social Security Administration, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Departments of Education, State, Interior and Transportation are expected to get their paychecks on Monday, Nov. 17. This only includes base pay, with corrections set to be made in the next pay cycle.
Employees at the General Services Administration and Office of Personnel Management are set to receive their paycheck on Saturday, Nov. 15. These checks will only include base pay.
Small Business Administration employees as well as those at the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor and Treasury are expected to receive their back pay payments on Wednesday, Nov. 19. These checks cover the entire period of the shutdown, including from Nov. 1 to Nov. 13.
Federal employees going without pay became a major pain point during the Senate’s fight over funding the government, and was one of several factors that ultimately pushed eight Senate Democrats to join Republicans to end the stalemate. The package cleared the House on Wednesday evening, and President Trump quickly signed it into law, ending the shutdown.
The legislation extended most government funding until Jan. 30, raising the prospect of another shutdown fight in the new year. Other parts of the government are funded through September 2026.
Minnesota members of the House of Representatives voted along party lines Wednesday night in the bid to end the longest government shutdown in history.
The deal to end the 43-day shutdown started to coalesce over the weekend, when eight moderate Senate Democrats struck a deal with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and tipped the scales to pass a continuing resolution. The agreement guarantees a vote in December on Affordable Care Act tax credits, which was a center point of the dispute between Democrats and Republicans. It also includes a trio of full-year funding bills and the reversal of all government layoffs that happened during the shutdown.
The Minnesota Democratic delegation denounced the compromise, outraged that they didn’t make headway on health care affordability. Most Senate Republicans say they will oppose any extension on the health insurance tax credits.
On Sunday, the two Minnesota senators — also Democrats — decried the deal, with Sen. Tina Smith calling it a “mistake.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar said the legislation “fails to meet the moment” and added that it was “shameful” that Minnesotans would see their premiums increase.
Rep. Kelly Morrison agreed, calling the bill a “complete nonstarter.”
“In just a few weeks, millions of Americans won’t be able to afford their health care, and Republicans have refused to come to the negotiating table to prevent this from happening. Addressing the affordability crisis should be our top priority – but this bill does nothing to lower health care costs,” she said.
Without the extension of the tax credit, the state’s Department of Commerce says that 90,000 Minnesotans will see an increase in their premiums, largely impacting farmers, small business owners and early retirees. Rates for Minnesotans covered through the individual market could see a rate hike of 21.5% and those in small group plans will see their costs rise by 14.2% in 2026.
“So now, my constituents are going to have to choose between heating their homes, feeding their families, or taking their children to the doctor. It’s a terrible deal for the American people,” Rep. Betty McCollum said.
Rep. Angie Craig added that “it’s past time for us to lower costs for working folks in this country, and this bill doesn’t do that.”
Minnesota’s Republican members of Congress however, tried to pin the blame for the six-week shutdown on Democrats, and supported reopening the government.
“Today, Republicans did what’s best for the American people by voting — once again — to fund the government and end the needless Democrat shutdown,” said Rep. Tom Emmer.
Throughout the duration of the shutdown, the Bipartisan Policy Center said at least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, with 730,000 federal employees working without pay.
Some of those workers included air traffic controllers, leading to the Federal Aviation Administration cutting airline capacity by 10% at “high-volume” areas, including Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Thursday morning that he expects air travel to return to normal by the weekend, and has “no concerns” for Thanksgiving travel.
“Today’s vote finally ends the Democrats’ needless shutdown and the politically motivated pain they inflicted on the American people. It’s now up to Congress to finish the job by delivering a long-term budget that strengthens our national security, supports rural communities, and restores confidence in how Washington does business,” said Rep. Brad Finstad.
Rep. Pete Stauber said he was “proud” to vote to reopen the government. Rep. Michelle Fischbach also voted to end the shutdown.
One of the consequences of the federal shutdown deal could be the decimation of Minnesota’s budding hemp industry, according to lobbyists. THC would be limited to 0.4 milligrams per container, though many products on shelves currently contain 5 milligrams per serving.
Editor’s Note: The U.S. House passed a funding bill Wednesday night to reopen the federal government after a historic 43-day shutdown, and the bill was signed into law by President Donald Trump. At press time, it was unknown when SNAP recipients would receive their full November benefits.
Speaking in broken English with tears in her eyes, a woman who identified herself as “Carmen” drove up to a supersite distribution event at Houston ISD’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on November 8.
The parking lot looked like the Target shopping center on Black Friday, with vehicles snaking around the building for miles. But those who showed up weren’t looking for the latest toy or gadget.
“Oí que tenían pollo,” Carmen said. “I heard they had chicken.”
Houston Food Bank volunteers did in fact have chicken, gallons of milk and fresh apples and oranges. A sticker with a number denoting the registered family members in each household was given to drivers who entered the lot, and volunteers loaded up the cars with multiples of each available item. Some recipients were given disaster boxes set aside for hurricane season.
The event was exclusively for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program who didn’t get their grocery debit cards filled this month due to the federal government shutdown. About 3.5 million Texans were affected by the pause in SNAP benefits.
Last weekend was full of political events in Houston, from a visit by California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to a re-election announcement from Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. But no one was protesting or making inflammatory political statements at the food distribution event.
Houston Food Bank volunteers have been handing out fresh produce, milk and chicken to SNAP recipients and federal employees at supersite distribution events. Credit: April Towery
Volunteer Alex Dempsey showed up well before the 8 a.m. distribution began. He donned an orange vest, and started handing out food and milk. Dempsey and his wife moved to Houston three years ago and said they wanted to get more involved and give back.
“The community is clearly in need and because of the government shutdown, it’s a critical time to help,” he said. “Everyone seems so thankful to be here. It’s been a really cool experience. There’s never been a more impactful time to help.”
“Money’s great but nothing gets done unless you have people show up to do the work,” he added. “You sign up online and do a little volunteer briefing. They make it super easy for anyone who wants to come out and help. I’m happy to be a part of it.”
Houston Food Bank president and CEO Brian Greene was there too. It’s known, from his public comments at a press conference last month, that Greene is disappointed that the federal government shutdown has prompted some families to have to make decisions about whether to put food on the table or keep their electricity on.
At a gathering on October 28, Greene tearfully apologized to SNAP recipients who would not be receiving benefits in November.
“There is no cavalry coming this time,” he said. “Normally after a disaster, the rest of the country helps out the affected community. In this case, we’re all in the same boat. Normally the federal government will step in to provide assistance. In this case, the federal government is the cause of the crisis.”
“This is not a natural crisis,” he added. We don’t have to do this. I am sorry you are going through it.”
At last weekend’s distribution event, Greene reiterated that the food bank would hold giveaways until the government reopens and SNAP benefits are fully restored.
A volunteer distributes milk to a SNAP recipient at a Houston Food Bank distribution event on November 8. Credit: April Towery
Greene said the food banks are not involved in any partisan fights, but the Houston Food Bank, along with the distribution centers in Galveston and Montgomery counties and 300 pantries throughout the Greater Houston area are going to serve the community as long as they’re needed. In about two weeks’ time, those agencies have provided food to at least 230,000 families.
“We’re just here to serve and we’re trying to make as much of a difference as we possibly can,” he said. “We’re not able to replace as much as these families are losing but we can absolutely help them get by, at least from a food standpoint. It will definitely help but it’s not a full replacement.”
Houston Food Bank president and CEO Brian Greene helps organize volunteers at a supersite distribution event on November 8. Credit: April Towery
A report released Tuesday by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs found that almost one in four Houston-area households rely on food assistance from the SNAP program and more than 75 percent of SNAP recipients say inflation has affected their spending decisions related to food and energy prices.
Greene pointed out that federal workers haven’t been paid for a month and many are still showing up to work. The Houston Food Bank has set up supersites just for government employees and also partnered with some local businesses to ensure workers can feed their families during the shutdown.
Houston Food Bank volunteers sign in to work a shift at a distribution supersite on November 8. Credit: April Towery
The uncertainty and confusion around whether SNAP benefits will be partially or fully funded has fostered a sense of fear in people who rely on the monthly subsidy to buy their groceries.
“Up until [November 7], the instructions that Texas had received were to calculate these partial payments and they informed us that it would be several days before they could start with that process because they had to redo all the calculations for how much each household would get,” Greene said. “Then on [November 7] they were told to go to full payment.”
“With the Supreme Court ruling [to pause full payment], we don’t know what they’re going to do or when that would actually happen,” he added.
So food bank employees and volunteers continue to show up and load vehicles with fresh food. For people like Carmen, it’s a life-changing gift.
“God bless you,” she said to the volunteers.
It was unclear at press time whether the Houston Food Bank would continue operating supersites through November now that SNAP funding has been restored. Scheduled distribution events, for which participants are asked to pre-register, include:
November 13 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Community of Faith Church, 1024 Pinemont Drive
November 15 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Northwest Assistance Ministries, 15555 Kuykendahl Road
November 18 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bethel’s Heavenly Hands, 12525 Fondren Road
November 20 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Community of Faith Church, 1024 Pinemont Drive
November 22 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Northwest Assistance Ministries, 15555 Kuykendahl Road
Last week, I stood alongside Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones and dozens of volunteers at a special food distribution hosted by West Houston Assistance Ministries.
We loaded boxes of donated food into cars that stretched for blocks for families hurt by the halt in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to the shutdown of the federal government. The desperation was palpable. That day, volunteers distributed food for more than 1,000 hungry families, including federal employees being forced to work without pay.
Across the greater Houston area, nearly 900,000 people rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table. That number alone is staggering — but it becomes even more urgent when you consider that SNAP provides nine times more food assistance than all the food banks in the United States combined, including children, elderly and disabled people.
When those benefits were suspended or significantly reduced, the strain on local resources became overwhelming. As Reverend Mark Brown, CEO of West Houston Assistance Ministries, told us: while food banks are doing everything they can, they simply cannot fill the gap left by SNAP. He described the current situation as a “humanitarian crisis,” calling the need for food in Houston “enormous.”
I couldn’t agree more.
For me, this isn’t just a humanitarian challenge — it’s a public safety issue. Common sense tells us that when we neglect to support the most vulnerable among us with basic resources for survival, the conditions for crime thrive.
According to one study, for every 1 percent increase in food insecurity, violent crime rises by 12 percent. Conversely, evidence shows that when food is readily available, neighborhoods are safer, stronger and benefit from lower rates of violent crime. Of course, that doesn’t mean hunger causes crime, nor that those struggling to feed their families are destined for criminality.
But it does highlight a critical truth: anyone serious about reducing violent crime should also care about attacking its root causes — poverty, lack of education, inadequate infrastructure, and limited upward mobility. I call these challenges “crime drivers” that, if left to fester, will reverse the progress we’re making to break the cycle of crime and violence.
And we have made progress. Violent crime has been declining over the past few years, thanks to the hard work of law enforcement, prosecutors, and so many local organizations working on crime prevention programs. The Harris County Commissioners Court deserves credit, too, for funding programs that are smart on crime, not just tough on it.
They’ve invested in gun violence interruption programs through the Harris County Health Department — initiatives proven to stop the cycle of gun crime before it starts. They’ve supported nuisance abatement efforts that tear down abandoned properties, which often become magnets for criminal activity. And they’ve funded infrastructure improvements like sidewalks and lighting — simple changes that make neighborhoods safer.
As a career prosecutor, I’ve spent years holding violent offenders accountable. I’m not afraid to put dangerous people behind bars. But I also know that if we want to stop the revolving door of crime, we must do more than debate bond reform. We must double down on mental health and substance use treatment, fight domestic violence with urgency, and meaningfully address the root causes of crime. This approach doesn’t just make our communities safer, it saves taxpayer dollars, reduces the dangerous court backlog, and gives deserving individuals a real chance to rebuild their lives.
So today, I’m asking you to join us by doing something simple. Donate your time, your money, or your food to the local nonprofits doing the quiet, heroic work of feeding families and stabilizing communities. Because when we feed, clothe, and shelter our neighbors, we’re not just helping them survive, we’re building a safer, stronger Harris County for everyone.
President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions — including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers — to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands.The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.“So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”The signing ceremony came just hours after the House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The Senate had already passed the measure Monday.Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.”The frustration and pressures generated by the shutdown were reflected when lawmakers debated the spending measure on the House floor.Republicans said Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a policy dispute.”They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would not give up on the subsidy extension even if the vote did not go their way.”This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”The House had not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans had done their job.What’s in the bill to end the shutdownThe legislation is the result of a deal reached by eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the health care tax credits.The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.The bill includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.Democrats also decried language in the bill that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation.The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The provisions drew criticism from Republicans as well. Johnson said he was “very angry about it.””That was dropped in at the last minute, and I did not appreciate that, nor did most of the House members,” Johnson said, promising a vote on the matter as early as next week.The biggest point of contention, though, was the fate of the expiring enhanced tax credit that makes health insurance more affordable through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.”It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” Cole said. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date.”Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the enhanced tax credit was designed to give more people access to health care and no Republican voted for it.”All they have done is try to eliminate access to health care in our country. The country is catching on to them,” Pelosi said.Without the enhanced tax credit, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected.Health care debate aheadIt’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overhaul for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.When could things return to normal?While the shutdown will end tonight, the return to pre-shutdown status will not be immediate. Air travel is expected to experience lingering impacts, as the transportation secretary noted that the speed of recovery will depend on how quickly air traffic controllers return to work, with many having retired during the shutdown. The FAA administrator stated that air traffic controllers will receive their full back pay within a week, but it remains unclear how quickly other federal workers will be compensated. In previous shutdowns, it took up to eight weeks for some workers to receive back pay.Regarding SNAP benefits, the American Public Human Services Association anticipates that most states will issue full benefits within three days after the shutdown ends, though some states may take about a week due to complications from issuing partial benefits during the shutdown. The Small Business Administration has indicated that once the government reopens, it will immediately begin processing and approving loans for small businesses. ___Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.
The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions — including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers — to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands.
The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.
“So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”
The signing ceremony came just hours after the House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The Senate had already passed the measure Monday.
Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.
“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.”
The frustration and pressures generated by the shutdown were reflected when lawmakers debated the spending measure on the House floor.
Republicans said Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a policy dispute.
“They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would not give up on the subsidy extension even if the vote did not go their way.
“This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”
The House had not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans had done their job.
What’s in the bill to end the shutdown
The legislation is the result of a deal reached by eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the health care tax credits.
The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.
The bill includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.
The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.
Democrats also decried language in the bill that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation.
The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The provisions drew criticism from Republicans as well. Johnson said he was “very angry about it.”
“That was dropped in at the last minute, and I did not appreciate that, nor did most of the House members,” Johnson said, promising a vote on the matter as early as next week.
The biggest point of contention, though, was the fate of the expiring enhanced tax credit that makes health insurance more affordable through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
“It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” Cole said. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the enhanced tax credit was designed to give more people access to health care and no Republican voted for it.
“All they have done is try to eliminate access to health care in our country. The country is catching on to them,” Pelosi said.
Without the enhanced tax credit, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected.
Health care debate ahead
It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.
Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.
House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overhaul for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.
The FAA administrator stated that air traffic controllers will receive their full back pay within a week, but it remains unclear how quickly other federal workers will be compensated. In previous shutdowns, it took up to eight weeks for some workers to receive back pay.
Regarding SNAP benefits, the American Public Human Services Association anticipates that most states will issue full benefits within three days after the shutdown ends, though some states may take about a week due to complications from issuing partial benefits during the shutdown.
The Small Business Administration has indicated that once the government reopens, it will immediately begin processing and approving loans for small businesses.
___
Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
The funding package that ended the longest government shutdown in modern U.S. history picked up support from a half-dozen Democrats — mostly moderates who represent competitive districts — when it passed the House late Wednesday.
The bill, which President Trump signed into law on Wednesday, will keep the government open until Jan. 30. It also reverses federal layoffs during the shutdown, and includes three-year-long funding bills that cover military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Department of Agriculture and FDA; and operations for the legislative branch.
It passed the Senate earlier this week after negotiations between Republicans and eight members of the chamber’s Democratic caucus, who voted for the bill in exchange for a promise by the GOP to hold a separate vote on extending expiring health insurance tax credits.
Here’s a look at the House Democrats who voted yes:
Jared Golden of Maine
Rep. Jared Golden attends an event in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 25, 2024.
Robert F. Bukaty / AP
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, a moderate representing the largely rural northernmost reaches of New England, was the sole House Democrat to vote in favor of a GOP-backed measure in September that would have averted the government shutdown. When the shutdown began last month, he blamed it on “hardball politics” by “far-left groups.”
In a social media post after Wednesday’s vote, he said he “voted to reopen the government, pay federal workers, and get food assistance and other critical programs up and running again.”
He also urged lawmakers to “take immediate action” to extend the health insurance subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
“We still have a window to pass bipartisan legislation to extend these credits,” he said.
Golden won reelection last year by 0.6 percentage points, or just under 3,000 votes. In the same year, Mr. Trump won in Golden’s district by about 9 points. He said last week he will not run for reelection next year, a move he linked in part to the “unnecessary, harmful” shutdown.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez leaves the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 29, 2023.
Tom Williams
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, who is known for occasionally breaking with her party, said in a statement she “voted to end this partisan car crash of a shutdown.”
“Americans can’t afford for their Representatives to get so caught up in landing a partisan win that they abandon their obligation to come together to solve the urgent problems that our nation faces,” she wrote. “The last several weeks have been a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress. None of my friends who rely on SNAP would want to trade their dinner for an ambiguous D.C. beltway ‘messaging victory’ and I’m glad this ugly scene is in the rearview mirror.”
She won reelection by 3.8 points last year, after initially getting elected to Congress by an 0.8-point margin in 2022.
Henry Cuellar of Texas
Rep. Henry Cuellar outside a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus on Nov. 17, 2022.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, who has represented the Rio Grande Valley for over 20 years, said in a statement that “Washington’s inaction created unnecessary hardship for the communities I represent,” pointing to disruptions to food aid. He pressed Congress to extend the health insurance tax credits next.
“The problem is, when Democrats or Republicans think they’re winning at the end of a long shutdown, it’s the American public that loses,” Cuellar told NewsNation after the vote.
He won reelection by 5.6 points last year.
Adam Gray of California
Rep. Adam Gray speaks during a swearing-in ceremony at the Merced County Courthouse Museum on Jan. 30.
Merced Sun-Star
Rep. Adam Gray of California explained his vote in an op-ed in the Turlock Journal, a newspaper in his Central Valley congressional district. He said he voted yes because the bill will keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funded until the end of September — preventing any more interruptions to food aid if there’s another shutdown.
“No parent should have to choose between feeding their children and keeping the lights on because someone in Washington thinks chaos is a negotiating tactic,” he wrote, blaming the Trump administration for “using vulnerable Americans as political leverage.”
He later said, “Is this a perfect deal? No. But lasting policy in this country is not born of hostage‑taking. It is born of compromise.”
He pressed for an extension to health insurance tax credits, but wrote: “Protecting families from hunger today does not prevent us from lowering health care costs tomorrow.”
Gray won his first term in Congress by just 187 votes in 2024, after losing by a razor-thin 564 votes two years earlier.
Don Davis of North Carolina
Rep. Don Davis during the DC Blockchain Summit on March 26.
Kent Nishimura / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina, whose already-competitive district was redrawn this year and made more favorable to Republicans, said an “increasing number of families have shared with me that they have been suffering daily” over the course of the shutdown.
He said in a statement he voted for the bill to “alleviate the suffering,” and in the hopes that negotiations can take place on extending the health insurance subsidies.
“While some Washington politicians from both parties have failed rural communities, the battle for healthcare is not over,” Davis wrote.
Davis won reelection by 1.7 points last year.
Tom Suozzi of New York
Rep. Tom Suozzi attends a Congressional Gold Medal event honoring the Harlem Hellfighters of World War I on Sept. 3.
Tom Williams
Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York said on X after the House vote he’s “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.”
But he added that “we cannot rely on the White House, which has chosen to make this process needlessly painful,” noting the interruptions to food aid.
Suozzi won reelection by 3.6 points in November. He previously represented his Long Island district for three terms, left Congress in 2023 to run for governor, and returned to the House in an early 2024 special election to replace the expelled GOP Rep. George Santos.
Washington — The longest government shutdown in history came to an end on Wednesday after weeks of gridlock causing air travel disruptions, denying access to food benefits to millions and forcing thousands of federal workers to go without paychecks.
After 43 days and more than a dozen attempts to reopen the government, President Trump signed the funding package, passed by the Senate and House, into law late Wednesday, meaning the funding lapse is officially over.
Here’s how the shutdown started, and eventually came to an end:
A Senate standoff
The standoff began in late September as lawmakers faced a deadline to fund the government by the start of a new fiscal year on Oct. 1. House Republicans passed a short-term funding measure on Sept. 19 to keep the government funded at existing levels until Nov. 21. But with Democratic support needed to move forward with any funding measure in the Senate, the chamber was at an impasse.
The top Democrats in Congress had been pushing since August to meet with GOP leaders and the White House on the funding issue, ramping up their calls to address expiring health care tax credits as the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline drew near.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries brief members of the press on the government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 16, 2025.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
With few opportunities to exert influence with a GOP-controlled House, Senate and White House, Democrats set out to center health care issues in the funding fight — setting their sights on the expiring health insurance tax credits as their key demand. The credits, under the Affordable Care Act, help millions of Americans pay for health insurance premiums for plans purchased on state exchanges. Their expiration would mean eye-popping increases in insurance costs for those with ACA plans.
Months earlier, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faced intense pushback for voting to advance a GOP measure during the last funding fight, increasing the pressure on him to dig in this time around.
Democrats sought to negotiate, introducing a counter-proposal to the House-passed measure to fund the government that included their health care demands. But Republicans remained steadfast in their belief that health care and other issues should be negotiated outside the context of funding the government, and urged Democrats to agree to a “clean” temporary funding extension.
Senate Republicans speak to members of the media following a lunch in the Rose Garden of the White House on Oct. 21, 2025.
Allison Robbert / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Over the course of seven weeks, Republicans and Democrats traded blame for the funding impasse. Senate Republicans put forward the House-passed funding measure for a vote 14 times, seeking to peel off support from Democrats as the caucus remained largely united in their opposition. But throughout it all, member-level bipartisan conversations seeking an offramp were bubbling under the surface.
As the weeks dragged on, the real-world effects of the shutdown began to take their toll, raising the stakes for the continuing stalemate and pushing Democrats to make a deal. Millions of federal workers began missing paychecks, straining those with little savings or no access to credit. Chaos began to emerge at airports after the Trump administration said it would reduce flight traffic amid staffing shortages caused by strained air traffic controllers. And millions of Americans were at risk of losing access to food aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
A bipartisan undercurrent
As early as the first days of the shutdown, a small group of moderate senators began signaling tepid interest in finding a way out at the member level, while leaders refused to engage.
What began as a large bipartisan huddle on the Senate floor would go on to involve a number of senators from across both the Democratic caucus and Republican conference.
The conversations across the aisle ramped up as the shutdown neared the longest on record. Sen. Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican and appropriator, told reporters on Oct. 30 she had spoken with Schumer to “lay the foundation” on continued appropriations work. And although Schumer didn’t vote for the final deal to end the shutdown, the long-term funding efforts became a key to unlocking an eventual agreement by demonstrating Republicans’ willingness to work on the appropriations process on a bipartisan basis.
Sen. Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, arrives for Senate votes to reopen the government on Day 41 of the government shutdown, n Nov. 10, 2025.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
The contours of the eventual deal began to emerge during the first week of November, with senators discussing an agreement that would fund the government alongside a trio of long-term appropriations bills. In exchange for their support, Democrats would be promised a vote on extending health insurance tax credits that they had demanded.
Britt told reporters on Nov. 4 that she made calls through the prior weekend on the funding package, saying she was hopeful it could be part of what ends the stalemate. Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican involved in the talks, said on the same day that the appropriations package might entice Democrats to “vote for something other than just simply a continuing resolution” while providing “a path forward” beyond a vote on the health care tax credits. And Democrats involved in the talks generally remained tight-lipped, signaling that things were close.
But the impasse would stretch on for a few more days, after Democrats swept key races in off-year elections. The victories emboldened the holdouts, who argued that voters had given them marching orders not to cave on their health care demands.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson made clear that he would not commit to a vote on the health insurance tax credits in the lower chamber. That comment underlined concerns from some Democrats that a future Senate vote on health care, which they were set to receive as part of a deal to reopen the government, would go nowhere.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference on Nov. 4, 2025 on Capitol Hill.
Tom Brenner / Getty Images
Still, the shutdown’s toll on Americans continued to ratchet up pressure on senators to reach a resolution.
On Nov. 7, Senate Democrats presented an offer to Republicans, saying they would end the government shutdown in exchange for a one-year extension of the health care tax credits and a plan to continue broader talks. But the proposal was swiftly rejected by Republicans as a “nonstarter,” as Senate Majority Leader John Thune maintained the position that negotiations on health care could only come after the government reopened.
The long-sought breakthrough
On Nov. 9, the deal to end the shutdown finally came together, with a group of eight Democrats agreeing to advance a funding measure as part of a broader agreement to end the shutdown.
Led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Sen. Angus King of Maine, the deal they struck with Thune and the White House secured a vote in December on the Affordable Care Act tax credits. The deal attached the trio of full-year funding bills, while restoring food aid at higher levels, and paving the way for a bipartisan appropriations process on other spending bills. And it reversed all government layoffs that occurred during the shutdown, while preventing them for a limited time going forward.
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, speaks at a press conference with other Senate Democrats who voted to restore government funding, on Nov. 9, 2025.
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
The moderates viewed the deal — after Republicans leaders refused Schumer’s offer — as the best possible offer they could secure, arguing that continuing the shutdown would only inflict more pain without any hopes of a better deal.
The final turn seemed to come with the provision in the bill that would address the Trump administration’s layoffs. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, one of the eight Democrats to back the funding deal, had long called the issue his principal priority in the shutdown fight. And he said he joined the group of Democrats just 48 hours before the deal was announced.
GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told reporters that the language in the new continuing resolution reversing the layoffs came from the White House. Mullin said the White House told Republicans they were willing to revert the layoffs if it could help win Kaine over.
“It was the right provision which brought him over, which brought a couple other people over, too,” Mullin said. “That’s what got it over the finish line.”
With coordination with the House and White House, the deal was on a glidepath to passage in the lower chamber, and to swiftly secure the president’s signature.
The House passed the bill late Wednesday, and Mr. Trump signed it during an Oval Office ceremony hours later. He applauded congressional Republicans and the Democratic senators who voted for the deal, while lashing out at most other Democrats.
“We’re sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” he said.
WASHINGTON, DC – The longest federal government shutdown in the U.S. history is finally over.
On Wednesday night, the House of Representatives passed a funding measure to end the shutdown, on a vote of 222 to 209, and President Donald Trump signed it into the law a short time later.
Before the House vote, Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the prolonged standoff.
“They admitted they were using the American people as leverage in this political game,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said. “They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway. The whole exercise was pointless. It was wrong and it was cruel.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries claimed the bill doesn’t help Americans struggling with high costs.
“The longest shutdown in American history would rather do that than provide healthcare that’s affordable to working-class Americans, middle-class American, and hard-working American taxpayers,” said Jeffries.
(CNN) — President Donald Trump late Wednesday signed a funding package to reopen the federal government, officially bringing a close to the longest shutdown in history.
The final approval came hours after the House voted 222 to 209 to pass a deal struck between Republicans and centrist Senate Democrats that keeps the government running through January and ensures some key agencies will be funded for the remainder of fiscal year 2026.
The agreement, which ended a record 43-day stalemate in Congress, will also reverse the mass federal layoffs carried out by Trump during the shutdown. It paves the way for paychecks to flow to government employees, as well as the resumption of critical food and nutrition services relied on by tens of millions of Americans.
Trump on Wednesday night cast the legislation as a victory over Democrats, calling it “a clear message that we will never give in to extortion, because that’s what it was, they tried to extort.”
“They didn’t want to do it the easy way,” he said from the Oval Office, attacking what he called “the extremists” in the Democratic Party. “They had to do it the hard way, and they look very bad.”
The White House signing ceremony was attended by a range of Republican lawmakers and capped a four-day sprint to pass the funding bill, after eight Senate Democrats broke ranks to compromise with Republicans amid worries about the shutdown’s widening economic consequences.
The deal guarantees an early December vote in the Senate on the expiring Obamacare subsidies that Democrats made the focus of their demands during the shutdown fight. But a vote to extend the subsidies is unlikely to succeed, a likelihood that’s driven intense blowback across the Democratic Party.
Most congressional Democrats loudly protested the bill in the run-up to Wednesday’s vote over concerns Americans’ health care premiums will skyrocket without the subsidies, with only six House Democrats voting in favor of the package.
“This fight is not over. We’re just getting started,” top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the vote. “Tens of millions of Americans are at risk of being unable to afford to go see a doctor when they need it.”
Back in Washington for the first time since mid-September, Speaker Mike Johnson corralled almost all Republicans behind the bill, despite sharp complaints from some of his members over a contentious provision added by Senate Republicans that allowed senators to retroactively sue the Department of Justice for obtaining phone records during a Biden-era probe – potentially amounting to a major financial windfall for those lawmakers.
Johnson himself said he was blindsided by the language, and he said he didn’t know about it until the Senate had already passed the package.
“I was shocked by it, I was angry about it,” the speaker said, though he added that he did not believe Senate Majority Leader John Thune added it in a nefarious manner. “I think it was a really bad look, and we’re going to fix it in the House.”
To win over conservative holdouts, Johnson vowed that the House would take a future vote to strip that language — though it’s unclear if the Senate would take it up. Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas ultimately agreed not to amend the language in the current stopgap bill, since it would require the Senate to return to Washington to vote again and delay the end of the shutdown.
Conservatives like Roy had blasted that provision as “self-dealing,” since it would award senators $500,000 or more in damages for each violation by the government if their lawsuit is successful. The amendment appeared to benefit eight senators in particular who had been subpoenaed by the previous administration into investigations into Trump’s first term.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations panel, accused those eight senators of voting “to shove taxpayer dollars into their own pockets – $500,000 for each time their records were inspected.”
The House Democrats who voted in favor of the compromise bill to reopen the government were: Reps. Jared Golden, Adam Gray, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Henry Cuellar, Tom Suozzi and Don Davis. GOP Reps. Thomas Massie voted and Greg Steube against the bill.
The end of the government shutdown will usher in a frenetic few weeks of work for the House, which has been largely shuttered since late September. As part of the GOP’s pressure campaign on Democrats, Johnson had decided to keep all members out of Washington until Senate Democrats agreed to back the GOP’s existing funding plan.
Now, Republicans and Democrats have just four weeks in session before the end of the year — when those Obamacare tax credits expire. Trump has called for revamping the law rather than extending the existing subsidies, setting up a high-stakes showdown over health care that could carry political ramifications for next year’s midterm elections.
“Obamacare was a disaster,” Trump said Wednesday night. “We’ll work on something having to do with health care. We can do a lot better.”
But there are plenty of other deadlines, including Congress’ farm bill and a slew of expiring energy credits.
House Republicans are also eager to pass as many spending bills as possible to improve their negotiating stance with the Senate ahead of that next deadline on January 30.
Johnson also faces another hot-button issue: the question of how Congress should handle the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Not long before the votes to reopen the government got underway, a newly elected Democrat — Rep. Adelita Grijalva — became the critical 218th signature to force a vote to compel the Justice Department to release all of its case files related to Epstein.
Johnson announced to reporters soon after Grijalva signed the petition that he will put a bill compelling the Department of Justice to release all of its Epstein case files on the House floor next week – earlier than expected, and after an extraordinary White House pressure campaign earlier Wednesday failed to convince any Republicans to remove their name from the petition.
The effort coincided with intensifying scrutiny over the Epstein files in the House. Earlier Wednesday, House Democrats on the Oversight panel released new emails that showed Epstein had repeatedly mentioned Trump by name in private correspondence, and then the GOP-led committee released 200,000 pages of documents the panel received from Epstein’s estate.
This headline and story have been updated with additional details.
President Donald Trump signed legislation to fund the government again — putting an end to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Trump signaled Monday the government would open soon, as consequences of a lapse in funding continued to snowball, including missed paychecks for federal workers and airline delays stemming from air traffic controller staffing shortages.
The bill keeps funding the government at the same levels during fiscal year 2025 through Jan. 30 to provide additional time to hash out a longer appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026.
The measure also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that more than 42 million Americans rely on through September. The program supports non- or low-income individuals or families to purchase groceries on a debit card.
President Donald Trump speaks to journalists aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea on Oct, 29, 2025.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Additionally, the measure reverses layoffs the Trump administration set into motion earlier in October and pays employees for their absence.
The reopening of the government comes after more than 40 days of a lapse in funding amid a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a stopgap spending bill that would have funded the government through Nov. 21.
After a lapse in funding starting 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 for the measure. The House subsequently passed its version of the measure Wednesday.
The White House is seen the day after President Donald Trump announced U.S. military strikes on nuclear sites in Iran on June 22, 2025 in Washington, DC.(Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
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 required to work and were gearing up to miss a second paycheck.
As a result, these staffers were calling in sick, or taking on second jobs, creating staffing shortages and flight delays.
The standoff between Republicans and Democrats originated over disagreements about various healthcare provisions to include in a potential funding measure. Trump and Republicans claimed Democrats wanted to provide illegal immigrants healthcare, 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.
Sunrise light hits the U.S. Capitol dome on Thursday, January 2, 2025.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Democrats pushed back on 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 that Trump signed does not extend these subsidies by the end of the year, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to a vote in December on legislation that would continue these credits.
