President Donald Trump signed a short-term spending bill to end the longest government shutdown in US history, which lasted 43 days. The bill, approved by both the House and the Senate, allows the government to “resume normal operations.”
He signed the short-term bill into law just hours after the House of Representatives voted 222-209 to approve it on Wednesday night, and two days after the Senate narrowly approved the same bill.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the government would now “resume normal operations” after “people were hurt so badly” from the 43-day shutdown.
Many government services have been suspended since October, and around 1.4 million federal employees have been on unpaid leave or working without pay. Food aid has also been left in limbo and air travel has been disrupted nationwide.
Government services are expected to reopen in the coming days, while disruptions to air travel will likely ease ahead of the looming Thanksgiving holiday. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had reduced air traffic because of staff shortages owing to the shutdown.
The bill only provides funding to keep the government open until 30 January, when lawmakers will once again need to find a way to fund the government.
Before he signed it into law, Trump repeatedly cast blame for the shutdown on the Democratic Party. “They did it purely for political reasons,” he said.
“When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country,” he added.
