Reopening the Government: Here’s What to Know About the Impact

Federal workers get back pay, food aid resumes, and flights stabilize—but some fallout could take weeks to mend or never fully recover.

The U.S. Capitol building on the 41st day of the government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, in Washington on Nov. 10, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

After 40 days of political gridlock, lawmakers in the U.S. Senate have reached a deal to reopen the federal government, clearing the way for the longest shutdown in U.S. history to end, while setting in motion a complex process to restart suspended programs, pay furloughed workers, and repair economic damage.

The Senate voted 60–40 on Nov. 10 to advance a temporary funding measure that consists of a “clean” stopgap bill that finances most federal agencies through Jan. 30, giving appropriators time to come up with long-term bills to fund the government through the entire fiscal year 2026, which runs through the end of September.