President Donald Trump signs bill to end longest shutdown in US history
The U.S. House approved a Senate bill end the longest government shutdown in history, and President Donald Trump signed it on Wednesday night.
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PHOENIX — The U.S. House approved a Senate bill to reopen the government on Wednesday, and President Donald Trump signed it hours later.
The legislation not only brings the longest federal government shutdown in history to an end on its 43rd day, but it also reverse the mass furloughs of federal workers imposed by the Trump administration since it began on Oct. 1.
In addition, reopening the government lifts the suspension placed Nov. 1 on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
However, it remains unclear how quickly payments will be issued to recipients of the food aid program who haven’t received their November benefits.
Additionally, travelers shouldn’t expect airline activity to return to normal immediately. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that even after the government reopens, flight cuts ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration will remain in effect until safety metrics improve and air traffic controller staffing stabilizes.
The House passed the bill by a margin of 222-209. Arizona’s six Republican House members voted for it, and the state’s three Democrats voted against.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who was sworn in earlier Wednesday, 50 days after her special election victory, sided with her Democratic colleagues in her first floor vote.
The Senate approved the shutdown-ending legislation with a vote of 60-40 on Monday night. Democratic Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego remained no votes.
The six-week stalemate started due to Senate Democrats demanding Republicans negotiate with them to extend health care tax credits that expire Jan. 1. However, Democrats didn’t get any guarantees that the subsidies for policies purchased through the Affordable Care Act will be maintained.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would not give up on the subsidy extension even if the vote did not go their way.
“This fight is not over,” Jeffries said. “We’re just getting started.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments
12 Comments
Democrats are screaming. They wanted the shutdown to go on and on as people starved. All to keep pouring taxpayer money down the horrible black hole of fraud and ravaged Obama Care. The "Affordable Care Act" that is so "affordable" the government needs to subsidized the hefty premiums for third rate medical care. The government needs to fix that separately and exclusively, not part of some Democrat blackmail scheme.
These people didn’t suddenly sprout leadership abilities. There will be another shutdown when this ends January 31 and one side or the other believes they can score political points by shutting it down again.
Except the Democrats who "folded" for the good of America shouldn't be blamed. They're the heroes - except for the previous 15 votes. The only Democrat who is an actual hero is Uncle Fester, aka Fetterman.