President Donald Trump signed a bill late Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
The shutdown lasted 43 days as Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a temporary funding deal to reopen the government. Seven Democrats and an independent who caucuses with them recently broke ranks to vote with Republicans on a series of short-term spending bills to keep the government open through January in exchange for a vote on the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies in December. However, Republicans like Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) already appear to be walking back that promise.
The negotiations also caused an uproar within the Democratic caucus, with some calling for Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to face a primary challenge in 2026.
Ending the shutdown also renewed the fight to release the case files from the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier in the day, lawmakers released a tranche of documents that included decade-old emails that undercut some of Trump's claims about their relationship.
