US shutdown ends after 43 days as Trump signs funding deal

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night signed a government funding bill, formally ending a record 43-day federal shutdown that disrupted air travel, strained food aid programs and left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay.

“It’s an honour now to sign this incredible bill,” Trump said in his remarks before signing it in the Oval Office.

He was surrounded by Republican lawmakers and several former members of Congress now leading major business lobbying groups.

The US president said that the government “should never shut down again,” calling the prolonged lapse in funding “no way to run a country.”

The bill cleared Congress earlier in the evening after the House voted to approve the measure, with nearly every Republican and a handful of Democrats backing it.

While the legislation averts an immediate crisis, it sets up another funding cliff on January 30, when Congress must again act to avoid a partial shutdown.

Even as the government begins reopening, uncertainty remains for the 42 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Although the bill restarts the food aid program, it does not specify when states will be able to load full November benefits onto electronic cards used by recipients to purchase groceries.