Senate Approves Deal to End Historic Shutdown, Puts Pressure on the House

The Senate has passed a long-awaited bill to reopen the federal government, ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history and setting up a consequential vote in the House later this week.

The funding measure — approved 60–40 with support from nearly all Republicans and a small group of centrist Democrats — would keep the government operating through January.

It now heads to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has instructed members to return to Washington for a vote as early as Wednesday afternoon. If approved, the bill will go to President Donald Trump, who has signaled he will sign it.

The agreement comes nearly six weeks after the shutdown began on Oct. 1, shutting down federal agencies, triggering furloughs, and straining services nationwide. The deal emerged from negotiations between Senate Republicans and moderate Democrats, breaking a stalemate driven largely by disputes over federal healthcare subsidies.

One of the most contentious issues involves Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, which expire at the end of December and help more than 20 million Americans afford health insurance. Democrats secured a commitment for a standalone vote in December on extending the subsidies—though Johnson publicly declined to say whether the House would honor that agreement. “I’m not committing to it or not committing to it,” he said on CNN ahead of the Senate vote.

The package includes several immediate relief measures:

• Back pay for all furloughed federal employees

• Reversal of all shutdown-related layoffs

• Funding for SNAP through September, supporting 42 million Americans who rely on food assistance

• New guardrails to limit overreliance on continuing resolutions and push Congress toward a more bipartisan, regular-order budget process

The shutdown’s economic and logistical fallout has grown increasingly severe in recent weeks. Air travel delays mounted, food banks reported surging demand, and disputes over federal benefits intensified.

Pressure escalated after Senate Democrats held firm against reopening the government without addressing the looming expiration of ACA subsidies.

Despite Senate passage, the political battle isn’t over. House Republicans remain divided, Democrats are already criticizing the bill for failing to guarantee long-term healthcare affordability, and the White House is navigating the shutdown’s political consequences ahead of a pivotal election year.

A House vote is expected Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. Until then, the government remains closed, and millions of Americans are waiting to see whether the deeply fractured Congress can deliver a final resolution.