Government shutdown to end, House approves funding through Jan. 30
The longest government shutdown in United States history is coming to an end after 43 days. The House of Representatives approved a continuing resolution on Wednesday that will fund the government through Jan. 30 along a mostly party-line vote.
The president said he would sign the resolution as early as Wednesday night, calling it a “good faith product.”
“This clean bill does not contain any of the partisan, ‘poison pill’ provisions demanded by the Democrats leading up to the shutdown,” the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement announcing the president’s official support.
Bipartisan blame game
Republicans contend this shutdown was the fault of Democrats who refused to vote for a package that did not extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that are expiring at the end of the year. The impending expiration is causing 2026 health care premiums to double and even quintuple for millions of Americans who get their insurance through the federal marketplace.
In the end, eight Democratic senators voted in favor of the resolution. In exchange, they received a promise that the Senate would vote on an ACA tax credit extension by the end of the year. They also inserted a provision that will prevent the Trump administration from moving forward with more mass layoffs of federal employees.
“It was completely and utterly foolish and pointless in the end, as we’ve said all along,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday afternoon. “We have a very aggressive calendar for the remainder of this year. There’ll be some long days and nights here, some long working weeks, but we will get this thing back on track.”
Democrats say the American people will hold Republicans responsible not just for the shutdown, but for what appear to be imminent increases in health care costs.
“We’ve spent 43 days in a total stalemate for nothing, and it’s because Republicans failed to negotiate,” Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said.
Potential ACA vote
Democrats will continue their push to extend the tax credits by introducing a discharge petition. If they can get 218 signatures, it would force a vote on a measure to extend the credits for three years. To hit 218, they need Republicans to sign on. While some Republicans say they would support an extension, they don’t want it to go for three years, and they want the eligibility requirements reformed.
“[The extension] will provide that level of certainty to working-class Americans who are on the verge of seeing their premiums, co-pays and deductibles skyrocket. In some cases, experiencing increases of $1,000 or $2,000 per year,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said. “This is unsustainable, unacceptable.”
In addition to fully funding the government through Jan. 30, Congress also approved three appropriations bills that will fund SNAP food assistance, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Agriculture for all of fiscal year 2026. The legislative branch will need to approve nine more appropriations bills, including those that fund the military, Department of Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, before February or the government will shut down again.
Democrats appear ready to hold firm in their fight for the ACA subsidies, and some predict the country is headed for another shutdown in January.
“Do I think that the Republicans have the political juice to get the rest of their appropriations bills across the finish line and a health care deal? No,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., told Straight Arrow News. “So if we think that they’re actually going to, in good faith, fix the American health care system in the next two months, I think that’s a load of bulls–t.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
