The longest US government shutdown in modern history has finally come to an end, with President Trump signing a bill to fund the government through January 30. The 43-day-long impasse had left thousands without paychecks and imperiled air travel.
According to data, the Senate passed a funding measure on November 10 after a group of seven Democrats and one independent agreed to advance the bill as part of a broader agreement. Only one Republican, Rand Paul, voted against advancing the resolution.
The shutdown had significant economic implications, with estimates suggesting that it could have cost the nation's economy up to $14 billion if it had lasted for eight weeks. The Congressional Budget Office also reported that the shutdown would have resulted in a 1-percentage-point GDP drop if it had lasted four weeks.
The shutdown also affected thousands of government workers, with at least 670,000 furloughed and around 730,000 working without pay. A provision was added to the final bipartisan Senate deal that reversed any layoffs during the shutdown, and the resolution also says that "no federal funds may be used" to conduct layoffs between now and January 30.
The cost of funding food stamps for November was estimated to be $9.2 billion, with the government's contingency fund having around $5 billion. However, a federal judge in Massachusetts had ordered the USDA to provide benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for November, despite the Trump administration's efforts to reduce benefits by 35%.
In a surprise move, President Trump said that he had received a private donation of $130 million from an unnamed "patriot" to help pay for troops' paychecks. The donor was reportedly Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and scion to the Mellon family banking fortune.
The shutdown has now ended, but the economic implications are likely to be felt for some time. As one expert noted, "the shutdown could have long-lasting effects on the economy, particularly if it continues into next year."
According to data, the Senate passed a funding measure on November 10 after a group of seven Democrats and one independent agreed to advance the bill as part of a broader agreement. Only one Republican, Rand Paul, voted against advancing the resolution.
The shutdown had significant economic implications, with estimates suggesting that it could have cost the nation's economy up to $14 billion if it had lasted for eight weeks. The Congressional Budget Office also reported that the shutdown would have resulted in a 1-percentage-point GDP drop if it had lasted four weeks.
The shutdown also affected thousands of government workers, with at least 670,000 furloughed and around 730,000 working without pay. A provision was added to the final bipartisan Senate deal that reversed any layoffs during the shutdown, and the resolution also says that "no federal funds may be used" to conduct layoffs between now and January 30.
The cost of funding food stamps for November was estimated to be $9.2 billion, with the government's contingency fund having around $5 billion. However, a federal judge in Massachusetts had ordered the USDA to provide benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for November, despite the Trump administration's efforts to reduce benefits by 35%.
In a surprise move, President Trump said that he had received a private donation of $130 million from an unnamed "patriot" to help pay for troops' paychecks. The donor was reportedly Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and scion to the Mellon family banking fortune.
The shutdown has now ended, but the economic implications are likely to be felt for some time. As one expert noted, "the shutdown could have long-lasting effects on the economy, particularly if it continues into next year."
omg can u believe that president trump had a private donor step up with 130 million $$ to help pay troops' paychecks lol what's good with this guy tho 
i mean its cool and all but who is timothy mellon anyway? seems like a pretty interesting story 
also i cant even imagine how thousands of ppl were affected by the shutdown they should get some sort of compensation or something 
, just thinking about all those people who were affected by that government shutdown is crazy! 670,000 furloughed and 730,000 working without pay... that's a lot of people struggling. And now, this huge private donation from Timothy Mellon? Interesting 
we're living in a world where politics can turn something as essential as government funding into a game of survival. all these people who were furloughed or working without pay, they're not just numbers on a page, they're human beings struggling to make ends meet. and the fact that it took 43 days for us to come to our senses is like, mind-blowing. 
. I mean, who needs their paycheck every two weeks anyway? And can you believe that President Trump got a sweet private donation from some rich dude to help pay for the troops' paychecks? Like, what's up with that? It's not like he had other ways of funding it or anything... 
.
. The shutdown may have had some economic implications, but at least it showed us that sometimes you need a little push in the right direction to get things done.
.
after 43 days of uncertainty and chaos... that's a big deal, economically speaking. I'm glad to see Congress was able to come together and pass a bill to fund the government for another few months 
they're not going to forget this anytime soon.
what a total joke that Trump got away with just paying troops' paychecks from some mysterious rich dude! 
And what's up with that random billionaire, Timothy Mellon? Is this some kind of insider trading thing goin' on? 
. but let's get real, who exactly is going to pay for those troops' paychecks now that the donation from Timothy Mellon came through? sounds suspicious to me 
now we just gotta wait and see how this all plays out next year... 