House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., leads a news conference with Democratic members of the House of Representatives about health care and a planned vote to end the government shutdown outside the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington, DC.
Saul Loeb/AFP
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Saul Loeb/AFP
The House of Representatives has approved a bill that extends funding to the government through January 30, ending the longest government shutdown in history, which affected millions of Americans and ended with little political gain.
This bill was passed on Wednesday night Despite Republicans’ narrow margin in the House. six democrats Joined his Republican colleagues to push the bill across the finish line 43 days after the shutdown began: Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Adam Gray of California, Jared Golden of Maine, Mary Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Tom Suozzi of New York.
Two Republicans – Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida – did not vote. The final vote was 222 to 209.
President Trump is expected to sign the bill on Wednesday night, paving the way for many federal employees to return to work on Thursday.
In addition to extending last year’s spending levels for most of the government through the end of January, the bill extends funding for some agencies through the end of next September, including payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program, which provides food assistance to about 1 in 8 Americans, is stuck court battle Due to shutdown.
The bill includes a measure to reverse layoffs imposed by the Trump administration during the shutdown, provide backpay for federal employees, and protect institutions against further layoffs.
But the main issue behind the entire shutdown is- Extension on Advanced Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year – Not addressed in the bill.
Instead, as part of Agreement reached with bipartisan group of senatorsSenate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to hold a vote in mid-December on Democrat-drafted legislation aimed at increasing those subsidies.
This doesn’t sit well with many Senate Democrats, who remain cautious about the pledge.
“Having a handshake agreement with my Republican colleagues to reopen the government and have no guarantee of actually reducing costs is not good enough,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., who voted against the measure.
Even if the December bill addressing the expiring subsidies passes the Senate, it will still have to go to the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not guaranteed such a bill will be brought to the House floor for a vote.
There is a lot of pain, not much gain
Conventional political wisdom says that government shutdowns are not an effective tool for advancing a party’s policy goals. The past six weeks have proven that this is the rule, not the exception.
Senate Democrats’ decision not to defund the government before October 1 was fueled, at least in part, by a demand from the Democrats’ political base to become a stronger opposition party. The party followed through on a promise that they would not defund the government unless Republicans agreed to increase subsidies for people purchasing health care through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
The decision came after leading Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Voted with Republicans to avoid shutdown in March. The result was a furious Democratic base, which demanded what little leverage the minority party had to negotiate with Republicans in exchange for their votes to fund the government.
With an eye on expiring subsidies and resulting skyrocketing premiums, Senate Democrats stood firm during the October shutdown, hoping that their resolution, combined with the shutdown’s devastating effects on millions of Americans, would bring Republicans to the negotiating table.
But the strategy ultimately did not work. Republicans did not back down and continued to routinely vote to fund the government.
In the meantime, 42 million Americans who participate with SNAP They did not receive the food aid on which they depended. Air traffic controllers and most Transportation Security Administration employees were left without pay, resulting in the Federal Aviation Administration order to reduce flightsMillions of federal workers went without pay,
The group of seven Democrats and one independent senator who voted to end the shutdown acknowledged that waiting longer would not have produced a different outcome.
“There was no guarantee that waiting would get us a better outcome, but there was a guarantee that waiting would inflict suffering on more everyday people,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told NPR.
The result is an end to the shutdown that doesn’t address Democrats’ main demand on subsidies. Instead he has been left to defend the handshake agreement he once described as inadequate.
Thune’s final agreement with Democrats is consistent with his repeated statements during the shutdown that Republicans would be open to negotiating subsidies ending only after the government is funded, not before.
Another factor that did not go in the Democrats’ favor is the president himself. President Trump has been known to upset the game plans of Congressional Republicans at times. but he took a step back During the shutdown and let Thune run the GOP strategy. He didn’t take the bait from Democrats who repeatedly asked where Trump was in the “great negotiator” discussion.
what happens now?
Both parties face important choices that could set the stage for their political successes and headaches over the next year.
Senate Democrats have about a month to craft a bill that addresses expiring ACA subsidies in a way that gets enough Republicans on board for passage.
If they succeed in getting an extension, Democrats will be able to start 2026 with a policy victory that will shape their message in the midterm elections. If Republicans don’t support it, Democrats still have a winning issue — health care — to run on next year.
Some Republicans have shown Interest in addressing subsidies, but want to institute reforms such as fraud prevention and income limits.
And both parties have to grapple with the fact that the government is only funded for a few months. Congress still must pass nine more appropriations bills before the continuing resolution expires.