The US House of Representatives approved an agreement to end the 43-day government shutdown. The US House of Representatives approved an agreement on Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in the country's history, which lasted 43 days due to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats. The House passed the bill that the Senate had advanced on Monday to reopen the government with a vote of 222-209, with six Democrats voting in favor and two Republicans voting against. The measure will now be sent to the Oval Office, where President Donald Trump was scheduled to sign the agreement before the cameras at 9:45 p.m. local time (2:45 GMT) to end the longest government shutdown in the country's history. Six Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill. U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law on Wednesday a bill passed by Congress that ends the 43-day government shutdown, the longest in the country's history. "It's an honor to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again," Trump said in the Oval Office before signing the agreement proposed by Republicans and passed by the lower chamber on Wednesday with 222 votes in favor and 209 against, with the support of six Democrats. "I just want to tell the American people that they should not forget this," the head of state said, and called the shutdown, which was extended due to disagreements over health care subsidies, "extortion" by Democrats. During his remarks, Trump sent a message to Republicans in Congress and said, "If we got rid of the filibuster, this would never happen again," adding that "don't forget we have another date coming up in the not-too-distant future," referring to the 2026 mid-term elections. The bill signed by the Republican guarantees funding for most federal agencies, which will expire at midnight on January 30 of next year. The agreement includes increased resources for the Border Patrol and immigration services to enhance control capabilities on the southern border; additional funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs aimed at improving hospitals and medical benefits; and funds for the Department of Agriculture focused on expanding child nutrition and food assistance programs. The bill was rejected by Democratic leaders in both chambers because the central point of the dispute, the expansion of health care subsidies, was removed, and programs like Obamacare will lose funding in December. During the signing, Trump took questions, interrupted to talk about economic issues, and then the press was asked to leave the office when a reporter shouted at the president about questions regarding new documents in the Epstein case that place him at the center of a controversy, for allegedly having knowledge of the crimes and contact with one of the victims. The 43-day government shutdown became the longest in U.S. history, affecting the cancellation of thousands of domestic flights, as well as the furlough of more than 1.3 million federal workers. The effects of the passed law could begin to be visible as early as this Thursday, when thousands of workers return to their posts after being called back by various federal agencies in anticipation of an agreement being signed. A video capture from a White House broadcast of U.S. President Donald Trump signing the bill to end the government shutdown this Wednesday in Washington (USA). "For the past 43 days, the facts haven't changed, the necessary votes haven't changed, and the path forward hasn't changed." Hard-line Democrats criticized the measure because it left out the extension of federal Obamacare health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year. In turn, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the Trump administration acted with "cruelty" against the American people during the shutdown by trying to stop full federal funding for food stamps, on which 42 million people depend. The measure passed by the House on Wednesday includes a spending package that would fund the government through January, as well as three separate spending bills to cover programs related to agriculture, military construction, veterans, and legislative agencies for most of 2026. Additionally, U.S. media have reported that Republicans "quietly" added a clause that will allow their supporters to sue the government for at least half a million dollars for having been investigated for the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The package includes a provision that would reverse the layoffs of federal workers made during the shutdown and would guarantee back pay for those who were furloughed. Various federal agencies have asked their workers in advance to report to work this Thursday, as after Trump's signature tonight the shutdown will be over.
