The longest government shutdown in American history has ended with the signing of a bill that passed both houses of Congress.
Donald Trump signed the bill in the Oval Office on Wednesday night after it passed the Senate.
At the time, Trump said that Democrats have paralyzed the entire country and pushed ordinary people into a deplorable situation. The president also believes that the party will have to suffer the consequences in the midterm elections.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a press conference after the bill passed that it has proven that Democrats are fully responsible for the suffering of the people. They are holding the people hostage to achieve their own interests. Johnson believes that voters will keep this in mind in the future. The speaker has assured that all measures will be taken to open the government as soon as possible.
The bill to end the shutdown passed the upper house on Monday by a vote of 60-40. Eight senators from the blue camp voted in favor and Rand Paul from the red camp voted against.
The Democratic camp split again on Wednesday, with six of their congressmen abandoning their party positions and joining the Republican bill, which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies have been fighting for 43 days.
As a result, the government will remain in operation until January 30th of next year. Under the current agreement, the SNAP program will begin to be fully funded.
Thousands of laid-off government employees will return to work, and those who have been furloughed or working without pay for the past six weeks will be paid their back pay. However, this short-term funding does not include any measures to increase subsidies for Obamacare.
The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 222-209, was quickly delivered to the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, where Trump was eagerly waiting. He signed the bill at 10:25 p.m., making it law.
