The U.S. government is restarting operations after the longest shutdown in the country’s history, which disrupted air traffic, cut food aid to low-income Americans and left more than 1 million workers without pay for more than a month. But the deep political divisions that caused the 43-day shutdown remain unresolved.
The funding package includes few restrictions to prevent President Donald Trump from withholding spending in an administration that frequently challenges Congress’ constitutional authority over funding. Nor does it mention the soon-to-expire health care subsidies that led to the impasse that triggered the government shutdown.
The shutdown also exposed a divide between progressives within the Democratic Party who want leaders to do whatever it takes to contain Trump and moderates who feel their options are limited while Republicans maintain majorities in both chambers of Congress. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is facing calls to resign despite voting against the deal.
Neither party appears to have a clear winner. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found that 50% of Americans hold Republicans responsible for the government shutdown, while 47% blame Democrats.
The deal limits funding to the government until January 30, meaning any return to normalcy could be short-lived, raising the possibility of another shutdown early next year.
The latest shutdown puts Democrats in an unusual position, as Republicans have been more likely to cause defunding in recent decades.
The session was also notable for what was largely absent: a debate over the $38 trillion national debt, which Congress has allowed to continue on a growth trajectory of about $1.8 trillion a year for now.
Democrats said the economy-wide disruptions, including the suspension of federal benefits and delayed pay for federal workers, merited attention to the impending health insurance price hikes for about 24 million Americans.
“The health of the American people is a battle worth fighting, and I’m proud that Democrats have come together to fight this battle for so long,” Georgia Representative Hank Johnson told Reuters. “The American public is more aware of the high stakes of this fight (…) They understand the danger of the situation, and that’s why they want us to continue fighting.”
Democrats have not guaranteed health care subsidies, only promising a vote on the issue in the Republican-controlled Senate, but there is no guarantee the bill will pass or even get a vote in the House.
But he insisted he had managed to raise the issue at a time when polls show Americans are concerned about the rising cost of living, and argued that Republicans could face political retribution if they don’t act to stop insurance premiums from rising. The subsidies disproportionately benefit residents of Republican-controlled states.
Republicans, on the other hand, found themselves making an argument Democrats often used during power outages: that the damage caused by power outages is not worth it.
“Government shutdowns should be legally prohibited,” moderate Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick told Reuters. “Using a government shutdown as a political lever is completely insane and insane. That would never happen, and it’s clearly a terrible precedent.”
The country’s air transport system is starting to return to normal after thousands of flights were canceled due to high absenteeism among air traffic controllers.
Additionally, 42 million Americans will no longer have to worry about whether their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) money, which helps them pay for groceries, will run out. A USDA spokesperson said most states will be able to receive their full SNAP benefits within 24 hours of reopening.
The government shutdown forced hundreds of thousands of federal employees to continue working without pay, while those deemed non-essential were ordered not to work. They are entitled to retroactive payments under a 2019 law, but President Trump has threatened to withhold payments from some.
President Trump also sought to lay off thousands of federal workers during the federal government shutdown, using his threat to target domestic programs favored by Democrats.
The deal to end the government shutdown allows those workers to keep their jobs and pauses President Trump’s broader downsizing campaign until the end of January. President Trump plans to cut the civil service workforce by 2.2 million to 300,000 by the end of the year.
The government shutdown has prevented the government from releasing a range of economic indicators, forcing investors and the Federal Reserve to operate blind as they try to assess the health of the world’s largest economy.
It also surprised consumers ahead of the year-end sales season. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that this would delay spending by about $50 billion and reduce U.S. GDP by 1.5 percentage points. The CBO said the economy will mostly recover once the shutdown ends, but up to $14 billion in lost activity will not be recovered.
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