The U.S. federal government shutdown, the longest in the country’s history, is nearing its end after the Senate approved on Monday a budget extension that will allow the Administration to reopen, with the support of eight Democratic senators who joined the Republican caucus.
The federal government has been shut down for 42 days due to a lack of agreement between Republicans and Democrats to pass additional funding, surpassing the record of 2018, when it remained paralyzed for 35 days during Donald Trump’s first term.
As a result of the shutdown, thousands of public workers were suspended from work and pay, and numerous air traffic controllers stopped attending their jobs as they did not receive a salary, forcing the Trump Administration to reduce air traffic by 10%, generating a wave of cancellations and delays at the country’s airports.
Keys to the end of the government shutdown
The reason Dems’ shutdown propaganda campaign has failed so miserably is because the entire narrative crumbles with just one question:
“Who was casting the votes against opening the government: Democrats or Republicans?” pic.twitter.com/36aDdRQG9H
– Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) November 11, 2025
After seven weeks of failed votes, the Upper House finally approved on Tuesday night a budget package that will allow for the reopening of the public administration.
The favorable vote came after Trump redoubled pressure on lawmakers to end the shutdown, following the setback suffered by the Republican Party in last week’s local elections, in which Democrats clearly prevailed in the New York City Mayor’s Office and in the state governments of New Jersey and Virginia.
The approval, with 60 votes in favor and 40 against, was possible thanks to a group of eight moderate Democrats who negotiated with the Republican majority a budget extension that allows guaranteeing food subsidies for low-income people until September of next year.
The package, however, does not include the Democratic Party’s demand to extend Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) health subsidies for millions of Americans.
From their own party, the dissident legislators were described as “traitors”.
The ball is now in the House of Representatives.
For the resolution to take effect, it must be ratified by the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a slim majority, before being sent to Trump’s desk, who has signaled a willingness to enact the bill.
This Tuesday is a Veterans Day holiday in the United States, so the House of Representatives, in recess since September, is expected to resume its sessions on Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Monday called on members of his party to “return as soon as possible to Washington” to participate in the vote.
The numbers are not clear
Johnson himself is expected to lead marathon negotiations behind closed doors, given that Republicans have a razor-thin majority and at least fourteen of them are calling for extending Obamacare subsidies.
The Democratic leadership is working, for its part, to avoid a repeat in the Lower House of what happened in the Senate, where several of its members voted with the Republicans.
“We will fight the GOP bill,” warned House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who accused Trump of creating a “health crisis” in the country.
Will everything go back to normal?
Once the bill is signed, hundreds of thousands of public employees are expected to return to their jobs and institutions such as the Smithsonian museums are expected to reopen, although the most affected services, such as air transportation, will take several days to normalize.
Airlines for America, the umbrella organization of the country’s major airlines, warned in a statement that, once the government reopens, they will need “time” to readjust their operations and that the consequences of the shutdown “will persist for days”.
The package passed in the Senate funds the public administration until January 30, so in just over two months, the government could face another shutdown.
Filed under: Keys to the end of the government shutdown
With information from EFE
