From left, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, and Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., talk on the steps of the House of Representatives before votes to end the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and fellow Democrats speak on the health care funding fight on the steps of the House before votes to end the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has announced she will not seek reelection to the U.S. House, walks to join fellow Democrats at an event on the health care fight on the steps of the House before votes to end the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., heads from his office to the chamber for the final vote to bring the longest government shutdown in history to an end, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 
In this image provided by House Television, the vote total showing passage of the bill in the House to end the government shutdown is displayed Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (House Television via AP) 
President Donald Trump signs the funding bill to reopen the government, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON | “President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.
The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions — including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers — to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands.
The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.
“So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”
The signing ceremony came just hours after the House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The Senate had already passed the measure Monday.
Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.
COLORADO COMMENT
GOV. JARED POLIS: “The federal government is finally reopening, and hardworking Americans will no longer be caught in the middle of Washington’s dysfunction. While this brings some relief to families, businesses, and communities across Colorado, I continue to urge Congress to renew the enhanced premium tax credits, to avoid health insurance premiums more than doubling in cost, and help Coloradans afford health care. Colorado has a balanced budget and will continue to do everything we can to make life more affordable and help families thrive.”
REP. GABE EVANS, R-THORNTON: “For 42 days, Democrats have held the American people hostage; rejecting a clean bipartisan CR 15 times — the same clean, bipartisan CR they supported 13 times under Biden — denying pay to our troops and federal workers, while putting SNAP and other essential resources at risk. Today House Republicans are ending the Schumer shutdown, reopening our government, and fully funding three full-year appropriations bills that put America first by strengthening military and veteran programs, supporting our farmers and agricultural producers, and protecting vital resources like SNAP and WIC. I’m proud to vote for this package that restores certainty and critical services to Colorado’s 8th District.”
REP. JASON CROW, D-AURORA: “Colorado families deserve better than an alleged promise from Republicans who have repeatedly gone back on their word and who routinely hand Congressional authority over to a president who flaunts the law. They deserve enforceable guarantees to protect their health care and our democracy. As has been the case throughout this Administration, this bill does nothing to help working Americans. Tariffs are driving up the price of food, energy, and other goods; buying a home is becoming increasingly out of reach; and now, the cost of health care is going through the roof–all while Donald Trump builds himself a $300 million ballroom, Cabinet officials buy private jets, and billionaires receive a massive tax cut. I cannot support a bill that will make a bad situation worse and hand the American people a raw deal.”
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET, D-COLO: “While it looks like the shutdown battle is ending, the fight is not. Now that Trump and the GOP are listening, we must make our demands heard loud and clear: first and foremost, that Obamacare premium tax credits must be renewed.”
REP. BRITTANY PETTERSON, D-LAKEWOOD: “What is even more shocking is that while families are being priced out of buying health insurance and struggling to put a roof over their head and food on the table, Trump and Republicans are busy building ballrooms, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on private jets and passing tax breaks for their billionaire buddies on the backs of the rest of us. It’s truly unimaginable.”
COLORADO DEMOCRATIC PARTY: “Republicans took a taxpayer-funded vacation, came back, and passed a bill that lets health care costs skyrocket for Coloradans. Millions of Americans will be forced to choose between food, rent and medical care. Colorado Democrats will never stop fighting for you.“
SEN. JOHN HICKENLOOPER, D-COLO: “Because Republicans refuse to tackle the health care crisis, Coloradans are staring down huge increases to their health care premiums. Lowering costs for working families begins with health care.”
REP. JEFF CRANK, R-COLORADO SPRINGS: “Democrats own this shutdown, and tonight when we reopen the government for the American people, they will throw a fit.”
REP. JEFF HURD, R-GRAND JUNCTION: “Just finished voting to end the 43-day Democratic-led shutdown. Tonight’s vote gets our troops and federal workers paid, restores SNAP, and lets us get back to legislating. And even while Washington was stuck, I kept working for #CO03, securing $450,000 for new, disability-accessible buses for veterans in Huerfano County. Tonight is a win for our district, for our country, and for the men and women who served in uniform.
REP. DIANA DEGETTE, D-DENVER: “Democrats have a simple solution to lower health care costs: extend the ACA premium support. I just signed a discharge petition to force a vote on that extension. Meanwhile, it seems Republicans are content with letting health care costs spike while they form “concepts” of a plan.”
“We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience that government shutdowns don’t work,” said Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They never achieve the objective that you announce. And guess what? You haven’t achieved that objective yet, and you’re not going to.”
A bitter end after a long stalemate
The frustration and pressures generated by the shutdown was reflected when lawmakers debated the spending measure on the House floor.
Republicans said Democrats sought to use the pain generated by the shutdown to prevail in a policy dispute.
“They knew it would cause pain and they did it anyway,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Democrats said Republicans raced to pass tax breaks earlier this year that they say mostly will benefit the wealthy. But the bill before the House Wednesday “leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would not give up on the subsidy extension even if the vote did not go their way.
“This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”
The House had not been in legislative session since Sept. 19, when it passed a short-term measure to keep the government open when the new budget year began in October. Johnson sent lawmakers home after that vote and put the onus on the Senate to act, saying House Republicans had done their job.
What’s in the bill to end the shutdown
The legislation is the result of a deal reached by eight senators who broke ranks with the Democrats after reaching the conclusion that Republicans would not bend on using a government funding to bill to extend the health care tax credits.
The compromise funds three annual spending bills and extends the rest of government funding through Jan. 30. Republicans promised to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the health care subsidies, but there is no guarantee of success.
The bill includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.
The package includes $203.5 million to boost security for lawmakers and an additional $28 million for the security of Supreme Court justices.
Democrats also decried language in the bill that would give senators the opportunity to sue when a federal agency or employee searches their electronic records without notifying them, allowing for up to $500,000 in potential damages for each violation.
The language seems aimed at helping Republican senators pursue damages if their phone records were analyzed by the FBI as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The provisions drew criticism from Republicans as well. Johnson said he was “very angry about it.”
“That was dropped in at the last minute, and I did not appreciate that, nor did most of the House members,” Johnson said, promising a vote on the matter as early as next week.
The biggest point of contention, though, was the fate of the expiring enhanced tax credit that makes health insurance more affordable through Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
“It’s a subsidy on top of a subsidy. Our friends added it during COVID,” Cole said. “COVID is over. They set a date certain that the subsidies would run out. They chose the date.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the enhanced tax credit was designed to give more people access to health care and no Republican voted for it.
“All they have done is try to eliminate access to health care in our country. The country is catching on to them,” Pelosi said.
Without the enhanced tax credit, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected.
Health care debate ahead
It’s unclear whether the parties will find any common ground on health care before the December vote in the Senate. Johnson has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.
Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19 pandemic-era tax credits as premiums will soar for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals rather than go directly to insurance companies.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday that she was supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, such as new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.
House Democrats expressed great skepticism that the Senate effort would lead to a breakthrough.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans have wanted to repeal the health overhaul for the past 15 years. “That’s where they’re trying to go,” she said.
There we have it in print: Mike Johnson won’t commit to bringing a healthcare bill to the floor of the House. You know, I’m in good shape with my healthcare coverage, but millions are under severe pressure economically and need help to afford healthcare. This has two HUGE reasons 1) the GOP is beholden to any industry and health insurance is an industry; I would call it a racket! 2) the GOP has suppressed the minimum wage for decades, creating a situation where millions of hard workers need food assistance and healthcare subsidies because they are under paid! Just why did 3 Democrats in the Senate cave when they are retiring next year? What the hell was the shutdown about if 3 lame ducks can’t stand on principle? We need single-payer healthcare, like normal developed countries and we need to increase the wages or social benefits of our workers – perhaps both! I’m a 72-year-old white male who sees that the GOP has completely ignored workers for 50 years and now it is time for more social benefits. The GOP has no plans for affordable healthcare, in fact, they want to protect the wealth creating machine that is health insurance. Do some research and find out what these CEOs are making so they can deny us coverage!
Mikey – We live in a free-market economy. That means that the market controls wages and prices through competition. When the government artificially raises minimum wages, it throws a “wrench” into the system causing imbalance. The free market corrects this through increases in inflation. Inflation causes healthcare premiums and costs to go up. Get it? The government is causing prices of everything to go up by artificially raising the minimum wage. Then they foolishly raise minimum wages again to compensate. Our government needs to “stay in its lane” and leave wages alone.
TL;DR–“Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism will save us!”