The federal government reopened after a 43-day shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. President Trump signed the funding bill late Wednesday, bringing most agencies back to work. The legislation covers operations through January and restores paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal employees who were unpaid during the impasse.
Officials say most services, including benefit programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will resume in the coming days. Some systems had paused or run at reduced levels during the shutdown. Agencies are now working to clear backlogs and resume full operations.
For federal workers who went without pay, the back-pay provisions mean wages will arrive soon — though the exact timing depends on each agency’s payroll system. Travel services, application processing and other public-facing operations are expected to ramp up steadily.
The shutdown had widespread effects: federal workers missed paychecks, food-aid programs were disrupted, and airports and national parks saw staffing issues. Now that funding is restored, those interruptions begin to ease.