After 43 grueling days, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday evening to end the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

The final vote tally was 222 to 209, with six Democrats casting yea votes and two Republicans voting nay.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaking on the House floor prior to the vote, voiced his “strong opposition [to] this woefully inadequate spending bill that fails to decisively address the Republican health care crisis and fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of Americans.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who made a brief speech following Jeffries’ remarks, blamed Democrats for the shutdown, saying “the whole exercise was pointless, it was wrong, and it was cruel.”

The Senate previously passed a bill Monday to fund government operations by a razor-thin 60-40 margin. The House passage leaves the fate of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2026 with President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign the legislation.

If Trump signs the bill into law and the government reopens, the administration will face pressure from Democrats to make good on the funding agreement reached, such as reversing shutdown-motivated layoffs, more than 400 of which hit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The language of the bill states that “any reduction in force proposed, noticed, initiated, executed, implemented, or otherwise taken by an Executive Agency between October 1, 2025, and the date of enactment, shall have no force or effect,” requiring reinstatement “without interruption” and back pay for the time they otherwise would have worked.

Hundreds of staffing cuts at HUD amid the government shutdown were concentrated in its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, though a federal judge subsequently blocked the mass layoffs that numbered in the thousands across the federal workforce.

HUD did not immediately respond to Scotsman Guide’s request for specifics on when HUD employees who received layoff notices during the shutdown should expect to return to work. However, a HUD spokesperson provided a statement from the department’s secretary, Scott Turner.

“I’m relieved the Left has finally stopped holding vital federal services hostage at the expense of the American people,” Turner stated. “This needless shutdown caused real harm — disrupting lives and livelihoods. Without delay, HUD will immediately restore stability and resume full operational capacity to support the communities we serve.”

The House was called to session this week for the first time in 54 days. Weeks of votes and committee hearings have been delayed during the extended recess, which began Sept. 19 when Republicans in the lower chamber first passed a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government through Nov. 21.

Until Monday night, Democratic members of the Senate had refused to join their Republican counterparts in passing the House’s funding bill, insisting that extensions for expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits be included to earn their support.

That coalition broke when seven Democrats and a Maine independent, Sen. Angus King, joined nearly all Republicans in the upper chamber in crafting a new bill to fund the government until Jan. 31, 2026. Sen. Rand Paul from Kentucky was the only GOP member to oppose the measure.

However, the bill sent to the House for approval this week was not the same continuing resolution that Speaker Johnson put up for a vote nearly two months ago.

In lieu of extensions for expiring health care subsidies, the band of break-away Democrats settled for the assurance of a future vote on the issue, back pay for federal workers, the reversal of thousands of federal layoffs that occurred during the shutdown and restrictions on additional federal workforce reductions until Jan. 31.

Without the subsidy extensions, millions of U.S. consumers will face higher health insurance premiums when policy renewals begin at the end of the year. Even policyholders not covered under Affordable Care Act plans will likely see their premiums increase.

The Senate-amended bill also included three smaller, targeted yearlong appropriations packages to fund military construction and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; legislative branch operations; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. The bill also restores full funding to food stamp benefits offered through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Besides their push for health care tax credit extensions, Democrats used the shutdown to highlight concerns about the viability of any funding package, citing the Trump administration’s success at diverting congressionally approved funding to fulfill campaign promises.