The longest shutdown in U.S. history came to a screeching end Wednesday night, with the House approving a bill to reopen the government and President Trump quickly signing it into law.
The next shutdown threat may not be far away.
The bill Congress passed funds military construction, veterans' affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch through Sept. 30, but funds the rest of the government through Jan. 30 — teeing up another showdown within months.
Democrats have signaled they plan to make the central sticking point during the 43-day shutdown — extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of this year — a major focus in the 2026 midterms.
While Senate Republicans have promised to hold a vote on the subsidies in mid-December, many in the GOP have opposed extending the funding.
The House passed the Senate-approved spending deal to reopen the government mostly on a party-line vote Wednesday, 222 to 209, with six Democrats voting for the bill and two Republicans opposing the package.
Trump promptly signed it into law Wednesday night while surrounded by Republicans in the Oval Office, arguing voters should remember the shutdown when they're going to the polls next year and punish Democrats.
"So, I just want to tell the American people you should not forget this when we come up to midterms and other things," Trump said. "Don't forget what they've done to our country."
▪ The Hill: These six House Democrats voted with Republicans to end the shutdown.
▪ The Hill: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) says problem with shutdown deal is 'bigger' than Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Even with the end of the shutdown, some of the impacts of the more than monthlong funding lapse will take time to dissipate.
The continuation of funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which 40 million low-income Americans rely on for groceries, dominated debate over the shutdown throughout the past week. The legislation that Congress has passed will restore full funding for SNAP through the rest of fiscal 2026.
But The Hill's Joseph Choi reports that full payments could still take up to another week to reach people, in part depending on how states responded to the thinning of funds from the federal government.
The aviation industry will also likely take time to return to normal operations. Flight capacity has been cut by 6 percent to ensure safety as air traffic controllers face deepening staff shortages.
More than 900 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled, and about 2,600 were delayed Wednesday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Disruptions are expected to continue for days, if not longer.
▪ The Hill: Officials freeze flight reduction at 6 percent.
▪ The Hill: When will federal workers get paid once the government reopens?
FOCUS SHIFTS TO EPSTEIN: Washington is quickly shifting its focus to the push to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the White House unsuccessfully lobbied against the discharge petition in the House.
The debate over the release of the Epstein files reignited Wednesday after Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released emails in which Epstein told associates in the 2010s that Trump "of course" knew about his relationships with underage girls.
The three emails show correspondence Epstein had with his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and with columnist Michael Wolff.
One email exchange from Epstein states that Trump "spent hours at my house," while another says Trump "knew about the girls."
Democrats alleged the exchanges suggest the president knew more about the convicted sex offender's dealings than he has said, while the White House slammed Democrats for "selectively" releasing emails.
Trump has said he and Epstein ran in the same social circles years ago but he hadn't been in contact with him in more than a decade by the time the disgraced financier died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial.
"The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover. These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President," Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the Oversight panel's top Democrat, said in a statement.
Republicans on the committee responded by releasing 20,000 pages of documents they received from Epstein's estate, accusing Democrats of cherry-picking documents to generate "clickbait."
The White House defended Trump, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt accusing Democrats of redacting information not shielded in the files, saying the victim referenced was Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most vocal accusers.
"The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump," Leavitt said in a statement. "The 'unnamed victim' referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and 'couldn't have been friendlier' to her in their limited interactions."
The release of the documents came hours before Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was sworn in to fill her late father's seat more than seven weeks after she won a special election to serve for the rest of the term.
Grijalva on Wednesday became the critical 218th signature on a discharge petition to force a vote in the House on releasing the files the federal government has obtained on Epstein.
"Justice cannot wait another day," Grijalva said.
The petition has received signatures from all House Democrats and four House Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Nancy Mace (S.C.).
The president and his allies reached out to Boebert and Mace earlier in the day ahead of the Grijalva taking office and signing the petition.
Trump personally called Mace, but she missed his call, and they were playing phone tag throughout the day, a source told The Hill. CNN reported multiple administration officials planned to meet with Boebert.
Signatories could remove their names from the petition before it reached the requisite number but not after. But Mace had told The Hill she wouldn't remove her name, and all four names ultimately stayed on the petition.
The effort to release the files still has hurdles to overcome. Although a vote in the House doesn't need to take place until early December at the soonest, Johnson said he would hold a vote next week.
If passed, the measure would still need to pass the GOP-controlled Senate before going to Trump for his signature or veto.
▪ The Hill: Epstein furor takes over in the House.
▪ CNN: Officials hold Situation Room meeting over Epstein petition.
▪ Politico: Dems predict major GOP support to release Epstein files.
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