Budget disputes in the United States
Record closing ends in US
Updated 11/13/2025 – 6:30 amReading time: 3 minutes
The longest shutdown in history in the US has ended. After agreement in the US House of Representatives, Donald Trump signed a temporary budget.
The longest partial shutdown of US government business has ended. With his signature, President Donald Trump enacted a temporary budget previously passed by Parliament, ending the so-called government shutdown after 43 days. “With my signature, the federal government will now resume its normal work,” the Republican said Wednesday evening (local time) at the White House.
Shortly before, the second chamber of the US Congress, the House of Representatives, had voted on the legislative package passed by the Senate. The temporary budget is only valid until the end of January. In the DPR, a total of 222 members voted in favor and 209 against. Six Democrats joined the majority of Republicans in voting for the proposal.
The United States no longer had a valid federal budget as of October 1, and government affairs functioned only on a limited basis. Hundreds of thousands of government workers went unpaid, food aid for millions of Americans was denied, and thousands of flights were canceled because air traffic controllers were no longer paid.
Given America’s polarized politics, a breakdown in government affairs is not unusual, as the two sides are often unable to reach a timely agreement. But this is the longest shutdown in US history. On Wednesday it was 43 days. The previous longest shutdown lasted 35 days at the turn of 2019 – that is, during Trump’s first term as president.
With Trump’s signature, the government shutdown ends. The temporary budget is only valid until the end of January. If the regular budget cannot be met by then, there may be another closure starting in February.
Trump-backing Republicans and opposition Democrats have been waging a bitter dispute over the budget for weeks. Since last weekend, the impact has become more serious, especially in the disbursement of food aid and flight cancellations.
Republicans backing Trump showed no concessions, but the pressure appeared to be too much for some Democrats in the Senate. They dropped their resistance on Sunday and helped the legislative package succeed.
Senate Democrats made their approval contingent on the health care measures. Specifically, it’s about a tax credit for health insurance contributions for more than 20 million Americans, which is set to expire at the end of the year. The Democratic Party wants to expand these subsidies. Republicans oppose this, which is why many insured people are now facing double their monthly contributions.
Senate Republicans promised Democrats they would hold a vote on health care costs in Congress in December. However, it is very likely that the subsidy will not be extended. And even if it succeeds, the House of Representatives would still have to approve it – which is considered almost impossible.
Trump’s Republican Party has a majority in both houses of parliament. Recent surveys have also shown that a growing number of Americans are assigning responsibility to the ruling Republican Party for the government shutdown.
From the perspective of some of the party’s base, the dissident Democrats in the Senate have given up without achieving any major concessions. However, some in the Democratic Party leadership believe that positioning the issue – and Republican obstructionism – more clearly to the public is a success. They may already be looking forward to the congressional midterm elections coming up next year, where Democrats will blame Republicans for higher health insurance costs.
