Washington, D.C. – November 13, 2025 – At 11:57 p.m., the longest U.S. government shutdown in history exhaled its final breath. President Donald Trump, sleeves rolled under the Rose Garden floodlights, signed the emergency spending bill with a flourish that split the night. By sunrise Thursday, 670,000 federal workers were streaming back through turnstiles, coffee in hand, paychecks promised by direct deposit Friday.

The Stroke That Ended the Siege

The 312-page stopgap—cobbled together in a 48-hour sprint—pumps $1.2 trillion into agencies frozen since October 1. No border wall riders, no ACA subsidy mandates; just a clean continuing resolution through March 2026. The House vote at 3:14 p.m. Wednesday was 222-209, six Democrats peeling off under pressure from airport unions and veterans’ groups. The Senate had already passed it 54-46, eight Democrats joining every Republican present.

Trump called it “the fastest deal in shutdown history,” then pivoted to blame “Democrat obstruction.” Across the aisle, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi texted reporters a single emoji: 🩹.

Airports Breathe, Parks Unlock

Dulles Tower came alive at 5:03 a.m. when the first controller keyed the mic: “Washington clearance, good morning.” By 7:00 a.m., TSA lines at Reagan National shrank from three-hour snakes to 22 minutes. Delta and United quietly reinstated 1,100 canceled flights; American’s app pinged 42,000 rebooked passengers with the same three words: “Welcome back.”

Yellowstone’s West Entrance gate creaked open at 8:00 a.m. sharp. A lone bison ambled past the fee booth as rangers—unpaid for six weeks—waved in the first RV with tears and a thermos of coffee.

Back-Pay Math and Empty Pantries

The Treasury wired the first tranche of back pay at 12:01 a.m.—$11.4 billion total. Still, food-bank lines outside Walter Reed lingered past noon; some contractors, ineligible for retroactive wages, stared at eviction notices taped to apartment doors.

At the FDA’s Beltsville lab, inspectors suited up to test imported shrimp delayed since Halloween. One scientist told a colleague, “If we find salmonella today, at least we’ll get paid to find it.”

The Political Autopsy

The trigger: Democrats filibustered the October 1 appropriations bill to force a vote on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Republicans refused. Forty-three days later, both sides claimed the scalp.

Polling showed Trump’s approval dipping to 41 percent, yet 78 percent of Republicans called the shutdown “worth it to stop socialist healthcare.” Democrats countered with ads of shuttered Head Start classrooms—already booked for Iowa and New Hampshire airwaves.

Next Cliff: 108 Days Away

The bill buys time until March 14, 2026. Budget hawks note the debt ceiling, suspended since July, reactivates January 1 at $36.8 trillion. Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent told CNBC the government could hit the new X-Date by late May unless Congress acts.

On Capitol Hill, staffers swapped Halloween candy for Thanksgiving travel plans. One Senate aide summed up the mood: “We just paid $15 billion to kick the can past the turkey. Merry Christmas.”

Morning in America, Version 2.0

By 10:00 a.m., the National Mall’s food trucks fired up grills for the first time in six weeks. A Park Police officer handed a toddler a junior ranger badge and whispered, “Welcome back to your monuments.” The toddler’s mother, a furloughed EPA analyst, checked her bank app: $4,312.17 pending.

The government is open. The meter is running.

Date: 13th Nov, 2025

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