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After 43 days, Congress has reached a budget deal allowing the federal government to reopen. The vote came out to 222-209. Government shutdown ends Dig deeper: The legislation provides Fiscal Year 2025 funding to keep the government open through Jan. 30, 2026 to give negotiators more time to strike a longer-term deal for Fiscal Year 2026. It also reverses the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began on Oct. 1 and guarantees workers who were furloughed or worked without pay receive backpay. The bill funds the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration; the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction; and the legislative branch through Sept. 30, 2026. They are three of 12 individual bills that are meant to make up Congress' annual appropriations, paired into a vehicle called a "minibus." It also guarantees Senate Democrats a vote on legislation extending Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Why did the government shut down? The backstory: Republicans crafted a short-term measure to fund the government through Nov. 21, but Democrats insisted that the measure address their concerns on health care. Democrats wanted to reverse the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer as well as extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act. The tax credit was boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic response, again through President Joe Biden’s big energy and health care bill, and it’s set to expire at the end of December. Without it, premiums on average will more than double for millions of Americans. More than 2 million people would lose health insurance coverage altogether next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected. Republicans said that’s all a non-starter. While Democrats called for negotiations on the matter, Republicans said a funding bill would need to be passed first.
