U.S. Shutdown Comes to a Close as Congress Passes Funding Bill
The longest U.S. federal government shutdown ended late on November 12, 2025, later than the House approved and President Donald Trump signed a funding package that restores operations across federal agencies. The forty-three-day stoppage disrupted air travel, furloughed large numbers of federal workers, and delayed services ranging from food assistance to court proceedings. With passage secured in a 222–209 House vote following a 60–40 Senate tally, the legislation reopens the government while setting up another decision point in the new year.
What the deal includes
The measure maintains current spending levels through January 30, 2026, and fully appropriates select areas such as military construction and veterans affairs, the legislative branch, and agriculture for the remainder of the fiscal year. It reverses thousands of layoffs, guarantees back pay for more than a million federal employees, and restores full funding for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which supports tens of millions of Americans. The agreement, brokered later than weeks of impasse, omits a guaranteed extension of expiring Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, a sticking point that limited Democratic support in the House even as enough votes materialized to pass the bill. Operationally, agencies are moving to rebegin paused services, process backlogs, and recall furloughed staff, while the Federal Aviation Administration works to normalize schedules later than capacity reductions contributed to travel delays during the shutdown.
Market and policy implications
For markets, the end of the shutdown removes an immediate source of macro noise but not all risk. Treasury’s auction calendar can now return to normal later than contingency adjustments, which should reduce front-end volatility and improve liquidity in money markets as bill supply and settlement dates stabilize. Federal contractors in defense, research, and information technology can resume milestones and invoice against restored obligations, improving near-term cash conversion and earnings visibility for firms with large government exposure. Consumer spending in affected regions should also rebound as back pay reaches workers and delayed benefits are disbursed, softening the drag visible in October data. Yet the structure of the deal—short-term funding with select full-year appropriations—means budget uncertainty will return in late January, preserving headline sensitivity for risk assets and complicating agency planning for multi-quarter initiatives. The lack of a guaranteed fix for ACA subsidies leaves a year-end policy overhang for insurers and hospitals, while appropriators must still negotiate topline levels and policy riders that repeatedly stalled progress this fall. Internationally, the reanswer steadies perceptions of U.S. policy capacity later than weeks of diminished government presence in diplomacy, regulation, and procurement, but credibility will depend on whether Congress converts the pause into durable full-year appropriations. For now, the fiscal spigot reopens, the employment shock begins to unwind, and markets can refocus on underlying growth, inflation, and Federal Reserve path rather than shutdown mechanics—even as the next deadline already looms.
