The 43-day government shutdown has ended after a late Wednesday budget deal, but significant consequences remain. Federal employees will receive back pay, yet many face missed bills and debt that short-term payments may not fix. Travel disruption from controller shortages and FAA cuts could take up to two weeks to recover, potentially coinciding with Thanksgiving. The funding is a stopgap through Jan. 30, and looming fights over health-care subsidies and Medicaid raise the prospect of higher costs for many in 2026.
Government Reopens After 43-Day Shutdown — But Fallout Will Linger
The 43-day government shutdown has ended after a late Wednesday budget deal, but significant consequences remain. Federal employees will receive back pay, yet many face missed bills and debt that short-term payments may not fix. Travel disruption from controller shortages and FAA cuts could take up to two weeks to recover, potentially coinciding with Thanksgiving. The funding is a stopgap through Jan. 30, and looming fights over health-care subsidies and Medicaid raise the prospect of higher costs for many in 2026.
08:24 AM, 11/14/2025Politics
Government reopens after the longest shutdown in U.S. history
After 43 days, Congress passed a late Wednesday budget agreement that ends the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history. While the deal lifts the immediate stalemate and allows federal agencies to resume normal operations, many of the shutdown's consequences will not disappear overnight.
Federal workers: pay restored, problems remain
Furloughed employees and those who continued working without pay will begin to receive back pay. However, many reported missed bills, drained savings and new debt accumulated during the pause in paychecks. Short-term back pay will help, but it may not erase long-term financial harms for some households.
Air travel faces a slow recovery
Airports nationwide suffered mass cancellations and disruptions driven by a combination of air-traffic-controller staffing shortages and temporary FAA flight reductions. Although operations have improved in some regions, experts warn it could take up to two weeks for schedules and staffing to stabilize — a recovery window that risks overlapping with the busy Thanksgiving travel period. The disruptions were severe enough that at least one member of Congress chose to ride a motorcycle roughly 16 hours back to Washington rather than risk a delayed or canceled flight.
Stopgap funding and looming fights over health care
The budget agreement is temporary, funding the federal government only through January 30. Lawmakers will need to return to the negotiating table in the new year, with health-care funding expected to be a major sticking point. Key subsidy programs that help reduce premiums for many Americans are set to expire at year’s end, and changes enacted in prior legislation complicate Medicaid and other program decisions. Those factors could lead to higher out-of-pocket health-care costs for many people in 2026.
Bottom line: The shutdown's official end restores pay and resumes services, but financial strain for workers, traffic and staffing issues in travel, and short-term funding raise the risk of new political and economic disruptions in the months ahead.