The federal government reopened on Thursday, one day after President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law on Wednesday night, ending the longest shutdown in American history at 43 days. The government reopens shutdown story is over: federal workers streamed back into offices, national parks fully reopened, and agencies began untangling weeks of backlogs. The bill funds most of the government through January 30, 2027.
The shutdown began on October 1, after Congress failed to pass a stopgap spending bill. The House passed the Senate package on Wednesday evening by 222-209, mostly along party lines, and Trump signed it hours later in the Oval Office. The Senate had passed the measure 60-40 on Monday night. The House, which had not met in session since September 19, took up the bill on Wednesday evening, as our House vote preview outlined.
Federal Workers Are Back, and Back Pay Is Coming
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers who had been furloughed returned to their offices on Thursday, while those who worked without pay kept their duties knowing their next paycheck should arrive on time. All workers will receive back pay for the shutdown period under a 2019 law that requires pay at the earliest date possible after a funding lapse.
The Office of Management and Budget said agencies would pay the back pay quickly, including a “supercheck” covering October 1 to November 1 that starts around November 15 for some agencies. Agencies told workers the money would begin arriving as soon as next week.
The deal also reverses firings carried out during the shutdown. The Office of Personnel Management said workers would receive notices within five days that their firings were voided, and the bill bars further layoffs through January 30.
Flights: Cuts Stop Growing, but the Order Stays for Now
Air travel, the shutdown’s most visible strain, began to ease on Thursday. The Federal Aviation Administration had ordered airlines to cut flights at 40 major airports, starting at 4 percent on November 7. A Wednesday order halted the rate at 6 percent, and as of Thursday afternoon the agency had not lifted the order, but it stopped raising the share of flights affected.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday that some Transportation Security Administration officers would receive $10,000 checks for going “above and beyond” during the shutdown. Noem handed out checks to TSA workers in Houston on Thursday. Trump had recommended $10,000 bonuses for air traffic controllers who never missed a shift during the shutdown.
Parks Open, Museums Follow on Friday
Dozens of national parks fully reopened on Thursday, after most stayed partly open during the shutdown with little or no staff. Federal courts also largely returned to normal operations.
Museums in Washington were slower to open. Visitors found “closed” signs at Smithsonian museums on Thursday. The National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center open on Friday, and the rest of the museums and the National Zoo open on a rolling basis by November 17.
Food Aid Is Funded. Health Subsidies Are Not.
Food assistance is secure for now. The bill funds the Agriculture Department for the full year, so people who rely on food programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year, according to the Associated Press.
The one big item missing from the deal is health care. The package does not extend the enhanced tax credits that lower the cost of Affordable Care Act marketplace insurance and expire at the end of December. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has promised a Senate vote on the subsidies by the second week of December.
The reopening ends a 43-day standoff that left federal workers unpaid, strained food banks and snarled air travel. The government reopens shutdown chapter is closed, but the next deadline is already set: funding runs out again on January 30, unless Congress passes full-year spending bills before then.