US Senate Passes Funding Bill, Paving Way to End Historic Shutdown

Updated by Faith Barabara N Ruhinda at 1109 EAT on Tuesday 11 Novemebr 2025

The US Senate has passed a long-delayed funding bill, paving the way to end a historic government shutdown that has crippled federal operations and left hundreds of thousands of workers without pay.

The legislation, approved late Tuesday after days of negotiations, will now go to President [Name] for signature. Lawmakers hailed the deal as a breakthrough after weeks of political deadlock that brought large parts of the federal government to a standstill.

The shutdown — one of the longest in US history — has disrupted key services, strained public institutions, and fueled public frustration as partisan divisions deepened on Capitol Hill.

Republicans – who hold a 53–47 majority in the Senate – needed at least 60 votes to advance the funding bill.

Several Democrats broke ranks to support the measure, including Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jackie Rosen and Jeanne Shaheen. They were joined by Maine’s Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, in voting to reopen the government.

Only one Republican, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, sided with most Democrats in opposing the legislation.

The announcement of the bill’s passage was made to a largely empty chamber, though the few senators who remained broke into applause.

“We are going to reopen government, and we are going to ensure that federal employees will now receive the compensation they’ve earned and deserve,” said Republican Senator Susan Collins, who played a key role in drafting the legislation.

The US government has been partially shut down since October, with around 1.4 million federal employees either furloughed or working without pay. Many services have been suspended, causing widespread disruption to air travel and food assistance programs.

According to airline tracker FlightAware, more than 2,400 flights were cancelled and at least 9,000 delayed across the country on Monday. The shutdown has also threatened food benefits for roughly 41 million low-income Americans, officials said.

The weekend-negotiated deal extends federal government funding through 30 January.

It provides full-year funding for the Department of Agriculture, as well as for military construction and legislative agencies. The bill also guarantees that all federal employees will be compensated for time spent working during the shutdown and secures funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food assistance to roughly one in eight Americans, through next September.

The package includes a provision for a vote in December on extending healthcare subsidies set to expire this year — a key issue on which Democrats had been seeking concessions.

Democratic leaders had previously insisted they would not support new government funding until Congress addressed the subsidies, which help tens of millions of Americans afford health insurance purchased through government-run marketplaces.

The agreement was negotiated between Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House, with Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, playing key roles in securing support.

Some high-profile Democrats have criticized colleagues who sided with Republicans to end the shutdown without securing concrete guarantees on healthcare. California Governor Gavin Newsom described the decision as “pathetic,” while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the package “fails to do anything of substance to fix America’s healthcare crisis.”

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, among the Democrats who supported the compromise, defended the vote, saying federal workers in his state were “saying thank you” for the agreement.

Senate Majority Leader Thune has pledged to bring a vote on healthcare subsidies by the second week of December. However, in the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated he would not advance the measure for a vote.

Former President Donald Trump signaled on Monday that he would be willing to sign the funding bill if it passes the House. “We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” he told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that “the deal is very good.”

Reporting by BBC News.

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