The United States Senate voted 60-40 on Monday to pass a bill reopening the federal government, ending a six-week standoff that became the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The agreement, reached after weeks of deadlock, followed intense pressure from both parties as unpaid federal workers, flight delays, and stalled food aid heightened public frustration.
The shutdown, which lasted 41 days, could officially end within days as the House of Representatives returns from recess to vote on the legislation. President Donald Trump expressed support for the measure, saying, “We’re going to be opening up our country very quickly.”
The breakthrough came as five moderate Democrats joined Republicans in backing the deal, breaking their party’s insistence that Republicans negotiate an extension of health care tax credits set to expire on January 1. Despite Democrats’ initial demand, Republicans refused to engage on the issue, leading to mounting strain across the country as federal services ground to a halt.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed relief after the final vote, thanking unpaid staff and Capitol Police who continued working through the shutdown. “I am very, very happy to be able to say we are coming to the end,” Thune said, calling the past six weeks “excruciating.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to return to Washington immediately despite ongoing travel delays caused by the shutdown. “We have to do this as quickly as possible,” he said. Johnson has kept the House out of session since mid-September, when lawmakers last passed a temporary funding measure.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, one of the five who broke ranks, said the decision was difficult but necessary. “We had reached a point where I think a number of us believed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising concern about health care,” she said. “This was the option on the table.”
Republicans have pledged to hold a separate vote by mid-December on extending the health care subsidies, though the outcome remains uncertain. Some members of the party have said they might support continuing the COVID-19-era tax credits but with tighter income caps and restrictions on eligibility. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins said she supports extending the credits with changes, noting, “We do need to act by the end of the year, and that is exactly what the majority leader has promised.”
Not all Democrats welcomed the compromise. Senator Chuck Schumer opposed the final deal, saying after a two-hour caucus meeting that he could not “in good faith” support it. Critics within the party argued that giving up the fight too soon risked losing momentum for expanding affordable health care.
While the immediate crisis of the government shutdown appears close to resolution, the deeper battle over health care subsidies is far from over. A procedural vote earlier on Monday failed 47-53 along party lines, signaling that the December negotiations could once again expose deep divisions in Congress over the future of the nation’s health care system.
