Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters en route to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on November 10, 2025 (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate passed a stopgap bill on Monday that will end the longest government shutdown in American history once the measure takes effect later this week.
The 60-40 vote sends the updated funding package back to the House, where lawmakers in that chamber are expected to clear the bill for President Donald Trump’s signature sometime in the next few days.
Shortly before the vote, Trump said he planned to honor the agreements contained in the revised measure, including reinstating thousands of federal workers who received layoff notices during the shutdown.
“I will stick to the deal,” Trump said. “The deal is very good.”
He added that Republicans will soon begin work on legislation to provide direct payments to Americans to lend a hand them cover the rising costs of health insurance, one of the main disputes between the political parties that led to the shutdown.
“We want a health care system where we pay the money to the people and not to the insurance companies,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “And let me tell you, we are going to be working very hard on this in the next short period of time.”
House members were told to go to DC
Earlier in the day, House Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to begin traveling back to Capitol Hill as soon as possible to ensure they arrive in time to vote on the government reopening bill after the measure is received by the Senate.
The Louisiana Republican’s request came as airlines were forced to delay or cancel thousands of flights on the 41st day of the lockdown, a situation that could potentially impact a House vote on the stopgap bill if members don’t follow his advice.
“The problem we have with air travel is that our air traffic controllers are overworked and unpaid. And many of them have called in sick,” Johnson said. “It’s a very stressful job and even more stressful, exponentially so, when they’re struggling to provide for their families. And so air travel came to a standstill in many places.”
Johnson then told his colleagues in the House of Representatives, which has not been in session since mid-September, that lawmakers from both political parties “must begin returning to the Hill immediately.”
Trump threatens air traffic controllers
Trump had a significantly different take on the challenges air traffic controllers faced during the lockdown a social media post that he posted several hours before speaking to reporters about the deal to reopen the government.
“All air traffic controllers must go back to work NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will essentially be ‘undocked,'” Trump wrote, without explaining what that would mean for workers who have had to take time off since the lockdown began Oct. 1.
Trump added that he would like to find a way to give $10,000 bonuses to air traffic controllers who didn’t need time off in the past six weeks.
“To those who did nothing but complain and took time off even though everyone knew they would soon be paid in FULL: I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU. You did not show up to help the USA against the FAKE DEMOCRATIC ATTACK that was only intended to harm our country,” Trump wrote. “At least in my opinion, you will have a negative mark on your record. If you wish to resign from the service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, without payment or severance of any kind!”
An end in sight
The Senate-passed package will provide emergency relief for much of the federal government through Jan. 30, giving lawmakers a few more months to work out an agreement on nine of the dozen full-year budget bills.
The package contains several other provisions, including full-year appropriations bills for the Department of Agriculture, the Legislature, military construction projects and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Seven Democrats and one independent broke out of line on Sunday on a procedural vote that advanced the package and drew condemnation from some House members and outside advocacy groups who lamented that no solution was found to address skyrocketing health insurance premium increases for people in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate, where bipartisanship is needed for major bills to advance under the 60-vote legislative filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said during a speech Monday that he was “grateful that the end” of the standoff is in sight.
“We are on day 41 of this shutdown – food services are at risk; air travel is in an extremely precarious situation; our staff and many, many other government workers have been working without pay for almost six weeks,” Thune said. “I could spend an hour talking about all the problems we saw that got worse as the shutdown lasted. But all of us, Democrats and Republicans, who voted for the bill last night are aware of the facts.”
Schumer’s bid for a deal on health care costs fails
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was far less celebratory after his attempt to get Republicans to negotiate a deal on health care costs by forcing a shutdown failed.
“The last few weeks have shown with shocking clarity how skewed Republican priorities really are. As people’s health care costs have risen, Republicans look like a party preoccupied with ballrooms, Argentine bailouts and private jets,” Schumer said. “The Republicans’ breach of trust with the American people is profound and potentially irreversible.”
“And now that they have done nothing to prevent premiums from rising, Americans’ anger against Donald Trump and the Republicans is only getting worse,” Schumer added. “Republicans had their chance to fix this and they blew it. Americans will remember Republican intransigence every time they make a sky-high payment for health insurance.”
Schumer insisted throughout the lockdown that Democrats would vote to advance a funding bill only after lawmakers negotiated a bipartisan deal to extend tax credits that expire at the end of December for people who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
That changed Sunday when Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada voted to move the bill toward final passage.
Maine Independent Senator Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, also voted to advance the legislation.
Jeffries still supports Schumer
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said during a news conference Monday afternoon that he still believes Schumer is effective and should retain his leadership role despite the result.
“Chief Schumer and Senate Democrats have waged a valiant fight on behalf of the American people over the last seven weeks. And I will not explain what a handful of Senate Democrats have decided to do. That is the explanation they want to offer to the American people,” Jeffries said.
“What we as Democrats in the House of Representatives, together with our allies across America, will continue to do is lead the fight, stay in the coliseum and win victories in the arena on behalf of the American people, regardless of possible disappointments,” he said. “That’s the reality of life, that’s certainly the reality of this place. But we’re in this fight for the right reasons.”
Speaker Johnson said earlier in the day that “the people’s government cannot be held hostage to advance anyone’s political agenda. That was never right. And shutting down the government never gets anything done.”
Johnson reiterated that Republican lawmakers are “open to finding solutions to reduce the crushing costs of health care,” although he did not outline plans to do so in the coming weeks and months.
