Trump Signs Funding Bill Ending Record 43-Day Government Shutdown

President Trump signed a government funding bill late Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown, according to PBS NewsHour (via The Associated Press), CBS News and Al Jazeera. The House passed the measure earlier in the day by a vote of 222-209, mostly along party lines. “With my signature, the federal government will now resume normal operations,” Trump said, according to Al Jazeera.

Six Democrats voted yes: Jared Golden, Adam Gray, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Don Davis, Henry Cuellar and Tom Suozzi, CBS and Al Jazeera reported. Two Republicans, Thomas Massie and Greg Steube, voted no. The Senate had already passed the package earlier in the week with the support of eight members of the Democratic caucus, the outlets reported.

The bill funds most of the government through Jan. 30 and includes three full-year spending bills, according to CBS and PBS. The AP reported that it reverses the firings of federal workers made since the shutdown began, protects them from further layoffs through January and guarantees they will be paid once the government reopens. It also funds the Agriculture Department so that key food assistance programs, including SNAP, face no interruption for the rest of the budget year, the AP reported.

The central dispute was not resolved. Democrats had refused to back a short-term spending bill unless it extended enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of the year; Republicans said that was a separate policy fight for another time, according to the AP. The deal that ended the impasse came from eight senators who broke ranks with Democrats after concluding Republicans would not extend the credits in a funding bill. Republicans promised a Senate vote on the subject by mid-December, PBS and Al Jazeera reported, but neither guaranteed it would pass. CBS reported that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said House Republicans would not commit to a vote, and that Democrats led by Hakeem Jeffries filed a discharge petition to extend the credits for three years.

The AP reported that, without the enhanced credits, average premiums would more than double for millions of Americans and the Congressional Budget Office projects more than 2 million people would lose coverage next year. Some Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, support extending the credits with changes such as income caps, while others want new limits on who can receive them, the AP reported.

The two parties drew different lessons. Speaker Mike Johnson said Democrats “knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway,” according to the AP. Trump said, “We’re sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” according to CBS, and he suggested voters remember the episode at the midterms, the AP reported. Jeffries said “This fight is not over,” and Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the bill left families with no guarantee of a vote on the tax credits, according to the AP.

The package also contains provisions that drew criticism from both parties. According to the AP and CBS, one lets senators sue for up to $500,000 if a federal agency searches their electronic records without notice; the AP reported Johnson promised a House vote on the matter, and CBS quoted him calling it “way out of line.” CBS also reported that the bill limits THC per container in hemp products, which the hemp industry says could harm it, with the ban not taking effect for a year.

The House had been out of session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term bill and Johnson sent members home, saying the next move was up to the Senate, according to the AP and CBS. The shutdown began after funding expired on Sept. 30. The new deadline of Jan. 30 sets up another funding fight early next year, CBS reported.