Trump Ends Government Shutdown

On Wednesday night, President Donald Trump officially concluded the Democrats’ long-standing shutdown after House Republicans approved a funding bill.

The House of Representatives passed the bill with a vote of 222-209, leading to Trump’s signature on the Republican continuing resolution, which brought an end to the 43-day shutdown. The voting was primarily along party lines, with 216 Republicans supporting the bill while 207 opposed it. Interestingly, two Republicans voted against it and six Democrats in favor.

President Trump stated, “People were hurt terribly” during the shutdown, adding that it was an unprecedented situation. He criticized the Democrats for their approach, suggesting it could have been resolved more easily. “They look very bad, and so do the Democrats,” he remarked.

With the midterm elections on the horizon, Trump urged Americans to remember the impact of the shutdown, stating, “As we approach the midterm elections and other events, let us not forget what they have done to our country.”

The Democrats triggered the government shutdown initially by blocking a clean continuing resolution from passing in the Senate by the September 30 funding deadline. Following more than 40 days without a resolution, eight Senate Democrats ultimately agreed to pass the funding bill, causing backlash within their own party.

Efforts made by Democrats to negotiate included reversing troop reduction notices tied to the shutdown and temporarily halting further reduction in force actions until January 30. This only pertained to about 4,200 of the approximately 150,000 federal job cuts enacted during Trump’s second term.

The primary motive behind the Democrats’ shutdown was to renegotiate Affordable Care Act subsidies that are due to expire soon. They did end up with a promise from Senate Minority Leader John Thune to hold a vote on these subsidies, although that was expected since day one of the shutdown.