Government to reopen after House votes to end longest-ever shutdown

"The federal government is set to reopen after being shut down for a record-setting 43 days after the House on Wednesday evening approved a bill to resume operations across agencies. President Trump quickly signed the spending package into law, meaning agencies were set to open Thursday morning. Most agencies are now funded through January under the new stopgap continuing resolution, though the Veterans Affairs Department, Agriculture Department and legislative branch agencies are funded through September."

"More than one million federal employees who worked or were furloughed during the shutdown without pay will soon begin receiving regular paychecks, as well as backpay for the checks they missed for the duration of the funding lapse. Around 650,000 furloughed workers are expected to quickly return to their offices and begin digging out from the piles of missed work during the shutdown, with most of those employees likely expected back first-thing Thursday."

"Ahead of the House vote on Wednesday, the White House said the spending package "ends disruptions to programs the American people rely on and ensures the thousands of federal employees who have been forced to work without a paycheck, such as air traffic controllers, will be promptly paid." Trump said upon signing the measure that normal operations would resume and demonstrated he would "never give into extortion.""

"As in the Senate, Democrats voted against the deal as it did not take any affirmative step to abate health care premium increases for millions of Americans next year, the key demand that led to the shutdown in the first place. The agreement came together over the weekend when eight Senate Democrats joined nearly all Republicans to approve the bill after stating the funding lapse was hurting too many people to"

Federal operations resume after a 43-day shutdown when the House approved a spending bill and President Trump signed it into law. Most agencies are funded through January; Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and legislative branch agencies are funded through September. More than one million federal employees who worked or were furloughed during the shutdown will receive paychecks and backpay. About 650,000 furloughed workers are expected to return quickly and clear accumulated work. The funding deal guarantees backpay despite administration threats to flout a 2019 law requiring retroactive compensation. Democrats opposed the deal because it did not address next-year health care premium increases. Eight Senate Democrats joined Republicans to approve the bill after stating the funding lapse was hurting too many people.

Read at Nextgov.com