THE six-week US government shutdown is set to end after the House of Representatives passed a temporary funding bill, with President Donald Trump expected to sign the measure on Wednesday night.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday the closure, the longest in U.S. history, disrupted flights nationwide and delayed food aid for millions.
The House voted 222 to 209 in favour of the interim spending package, though most Democrats opposed it because it does not renew expiring subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance policies.
“House Democrats are here to continue to engage in this struggle to decisively address the Republican health care crisis,” said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that fully resuming federal operations, including the lifting of flight restrictions, could take up to a week. Delta Air Lines chief executive Ed Bastian noted that shutdown-related flight cancellations will affect the airline’s quarterly earnings, though normal operations are expected by the Thanksgiving holiday.
Food aid for low-income Americans will also take time to resume.
States administering the federal food stamp programme require up to a week to update beneficiary files and reload debit cards, potentially creating bottlenecks as all states attempt to restore benefits simultaneously.
The shutdown has also delayed the release of critical economic data. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said reports including jobs figures and the consumer price index for October are unlikely to be published on schedule, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics expected to release an updated calendar soon.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called the shutdown “completely and utterly foolish and pointless in the end,” reflecting a pattern in which parties seeking policy leverage through government closures eventually relent under public pressure.
Senate Democrats initially blocked a Republican temporary funding measure, but seven Democrats and one independent ultimately supported the new stopgap in exchange for a promised Senate vote on extending Obamacare subsidies by mid-December.
The interim funding bill keeps most of the federal government operational through 30 January, while programmes including food stamps, the Agriculture Department, Veterans Affairs, the FDA, military construction, and Congress itself are funded through 30 September.
The legislation also prohibits federal layoffs through the end of January, addressing a key concern of Senator Tim Kaine.
Financial markets and government employees now await the reopening, but observers warn that lingering effects of the shutdown may continue to affect services and economic data in the coming days. - November 13, 2025
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