Washington, 13 November 2025 (dpa/MIA) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a funding bill to end the longest government shutdown in US history shortly after the House of Representatives voted in favour of the measure.

Trump's signature, considered a formality after the measure passed both chambers of Congress, put an end to a 43-day-long stalemate which has left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay and has disrupted public services.

"So with my signature, the Federal government will now resume normal operations and my administration and our partners in Congress will continue our work to lower the cost of living, restore public safety, grow our economy and make America affordable again," Trump said as he signed the bill.

"It's a great day," he continued as reporters were led out of the Oval Office immediately after the signing.

Earlier on Wednesday, 222 members of the US House of Representatives voted in favour of the transitional budget, which is set to fund the government through the end of January, and 209 against.

Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House. Nearly all Republicans and a handful of Democrats voted for the measure.

The shutdown began on October 1, as Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on a new federal budget. Without a spending plan approved by both chambers of Congress, no money flows to government agencies.

Salaries for federal workers, the military and social assistance programmes are all funded through the federal budget.

Trump's Republicans and the opposition Democrats engaged in a bitter dispute over the budget for weeks, centred on health care spending.

Some Democratic votes were needed for the bill to pass in the US Senate, since the Republicans hold a narrow majority there with 53 of the chamber's 100 seats and at least 60 were needed to move the proposal forward.

For weeks, Democrats refused to back a compromise. However, over the weekend, several Democrats shifted their stance, opening the way for Monday's vote, when the upper chamber passed the measure.

The transitional budget is only valid until the end of January. If a regular budget is not passed by then, there could be another shutdown in February.

Photo: epa