BREAKING: House votes to end government shutdown, bill heads to Trump’s desk

The House of Representatives has voted to approve a short-term funding bill to reopen the federal government, ending the longest shutdown in US history.

The House voted 222-209 largely along partisan lines Tuesday night to advance the bill, with 6 Democrats breaking ranks to vote in favor. Prior to the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted that the House end the government shutdown, adding that the Republican side has "operated in good faith."

"We need to get this government open as soon as possible," Johnson said.

The stopgap funding package will restore key federal operations, including food assistance programs, air traffic control funding, and pay for hundreds of thousands of federal employees who have gone unpaid during the shutdown.

The passing of the bill brings an end to Democratic lawmakers’ refusal to come to terms with Republicans to end the shutdown. Democrats had previously been unwilling to open the government, as they demanded that any agreement must include an extension of expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. 

Lawmakers acknowledged that the president’s opposition to extending these subsidies meant bipartisan agreement was unlikely, though the current agreement guarantees a separate vote on the issue at a later date.

The measure will fund the government through at least the end of January. The Senate voted 60-40 on Monday to pass the continuing resolution before sending it to the House for final approval. In the Senate, seven Democrats and one Democrat-leaning independent joined Republicans to advance the bill, breaking a weeks-long standoff over reopening the government.

President Donald Trump has already said that he would sign the bill once it reaches his desk.