After more than 40 days of political deadlock United States set to end its longest-running government shutdown as Democratic and Republican senators reached a rare bipartisan agreement on Sunday.
The bill, which passed the Senate with a majority vote after nearly two hours of deliberation, will now move to the House of Representatives for approval before heading to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Under the agreement, Republican lawmakers consented to extend federal funding in exchange for a commitment to hold a vote in December on expiring healthcare subsidies. This compromise paved the way for reopening government operations that had been paralyzed for weeks.
The shutdown had severely disrupted everyday life across the country. Nearly 1.4 million federal employees were either working without pay or placed on unpaid leave, while food assistance programs came to a standstill. Air travel also suffered heavily, with about 3,000 flights canceled and over 10,000 delayed nationwide on Sunday alone.
Although Senate approval marks a crucial step toward restoring normalcy, several procedural stages remain before the shutdown officially ends. The bill faces a vote in the Republican-controlled House, where it expected to pass, after which it will go to President Trump for final authorization.
Sen. Angus King of Maine, who had voted with Republicans in over a dozen previous bids to fund the government, told CNN’s Manu Raju they failed to achieve their desired result.
“I never thought that shutting down the government … was leverage against the Republicans, and that was proven to be the case. But I think everybody, everybody felt we had to do something. And the only tool at the time was the shutdown,” the independent senator said. “The question now is, what do you do now? And it’s been proven that it didn’t achieve the desired result.”
Read more: U.S. Government Shutdown Triggers Major Air Travel Disruption
Many Americans hope this compromise will finally bring relief to millions affected by weeks of uncertainty.
