After six weeks of paralysis, the United States government has finally restarted. Late Wednesday night, the House of Representatives voted to pass a long-delayed funding bill, ending the record-breaking 42-day shutdown that had frozen much of the federal system and left thousands of workers unpaid. Within hours, President Donald Trump signed the measure into law, officially reopening the government and bringing to a close one of the most drawn-out political standoffs in modern U.S. history.
The vote wasn’t easy, but it was decisive enough to move things forward. The bill passed by a narrow 222-209 margin, with 216 Republicans and six Democrats breaking party lines to push the measure through. It funds the government through January 2026, giving lawmakers only a few months before they face another round of budget negotiations — but for now, the lights are back on.
The shutdown had stretched far longer than anyone expected, stalling not only domestic programs but also key economic and regulatory work, including crypto market legislation that had been inching through Congress. Agencies like the SEC and CFTC had been operating on skeleton crews, halting reviews of ETF applications, enforcement cases, and comment periods. With the new bill signed, those agencies can finally resume normal operations.
It’s a relief that feels more like exhaustion than celebration. For 42 days, the country’s political machine sat frozen while both sides refused to give ground. Federal employees missed paychecks, regulatory filings stacked up, and public services slowed to a crawl. Markets wobbled but held steady, waiting for Washington to catch up.
By late Wednesday evening, as the news of Trump’s signature spread, a sense of weary normalcy started to return. Government offices will reopen Thursday morning. Regulators can log back into their systems. Committees can meet again. The longest shutdown in U.S. history is finally over — at least for now.
And while the fight that caused it isn’t truly resolved, for the moment, the machinery of government is running again — and the country, once more, can breathe.