US Democrat and Republican lawmakers have put an end to a spending impasse after 43 days of federal government shutdown. The transitional budget is to fund the US government until the end of January 2026.
The lower house of US Congress, the House of Representatives, on Wednesday voted to pass a spending bill, ending a federal government shutdown after 43 days of impasse.
The bill was brought to the desk of US President Donald Trump just hours later.
“So with my signature, the Federal government will now resume normal operations and my administration and our partners in Congress will continue our work to lower the cost of living, restore public safety, grow our economy and make America affordable again,” the president said as he signed the bill into law.
The bill was passed in the upper house, the Senate, on Monday.
In the House, 222 representatives, including six Democrats, voted in favor of the spending package, and 209 voted against.
Only two Republicans voted against the bill.
The transitional budget is to fund the US government until the end of January 2026.
Historic shutdown
The US government came to a standstill on October 1 after Democrats and Republicans locked horns over a Republican-drafted spending bill.
Democrats wanted the extension of an enhanced tax credit, due to expire at the end of this year, that lowers the cost of health insurance obtained through the Affordable Care Act.
They had refused to support the short-term spending bill, saying that it would sever healthcare support for millions of Americans.
The shutdown eventually became the longest in US history as it left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without salaries, travelers stranded at airports and led to people queuing up at food banks to get a meal for their families.
The standoff deepened the partisan divisions within Congress, laying bare the differences as the spending measure was hotly-debated on the House floor.
While the new deal sets up a December vote on the tax credits in the Senate, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has made no such promise.
“They knew that it would cause pain, and they did it anyway,” Johnson said on the House floor ahead of the vote, putting the blame for the impasse on the minority Democrats.
“The whole exercise was pointless. It was wrong and it was cruel,” he added.
Healthcare fight ‘not over’, say Democrats
Last week, the Democrat morale ran high as they clinched election victories in multiple states.
Many in the party thought the high-profile wins strengthened their odds of getting an extension of health insurance subsidies.
However, a group of seven moderate Senate Democrats broke party ranks and voted to support the Republican deal to reopen the US government.
Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill, the governor-elect of New Jersey, opposed the funding bill in her last address on the House floor.
“To my colleagues: Do not let this body become a ceremonial red stamp from an administration that takes food away from children and rips away healthcare,” she said.
Meanwhile, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the minority party would not give up on the extension of the subsidies even if the vote did not go in their favor.
“This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”
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