Washington, Nov 13 (UNI) President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a government funding bill to officially end the longest shutdown in US history, bringing a close to a 43-day standoff that had crippled federal operations across the country.
Trump signed the short-term spending bill in the Oval Office, surrounded by Republican lawmakers and party officials.
While announcing the move, he blamed Democrats for the shutdown, saying they had “done it purely for political reasons.”
The House of Representatives voted 222–209 late Wednesday night to approve the bill, just two days after the Senate narrowly passed the same measure.
Trump signed the legislation into law within hours of the House vote. Speaking from the Oval Office, the president said federal agencies would now “resume normal operations” after “people were hurt so badly” by the shutdown.
“For the past 43 days, Democrats in Congress shut down the government of the United States in an attempt to extort American taxpayers for hundreds of billions of dollars for illegal aliens. Today, we’re sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” Trump said.
The shutdown, lasting from early October to mid-November, had suspended many government services and left roughly 1.4 million federal employees either furloughed or working without pay, and disrupted food assistance programs and air travel nationwide, the CNN reported.
Government operations are expected to restart in the coming days, with air travel disruptions likely to ease ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had reduced air traffic operations in recent weeks due to staff shortages caused by the shutdown.
“Today we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion, because that’s what it was,” Trump said during the bill signing.
Earlier this week, the Senate voted 60–40 to advance the legislation, which funds military construction, veterans’ affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and the legislative branch through September 30, and the rest of the federal government through January 30. Eight Democrats joined 52 Republicans to pass the measure and send it to the House.
