The longest government shutdown in history could conclude as soon as today, Day 43, with Speaker Mike Johnson calling House representatives back into session after sending them home for nearly eight weeks.
The House is scheduled to take up a bill to reopen the government that the Senate passed on Monday night. President Donald Trump called the measure a “very big victory,” and it’s expected to pass the Republican-led chamber. But the prospect of travel delays due to the shutdown could complicate the vote. Johnson may need nearly perfect attendance from fellow Republicans to get the measure over the finish line.
Almost no one will be satisfied. Democrats didn’t get the health insurance provisions they demanded added to the spending deal. And both polls and election results show that Republicans, who control the levers of power in Washington, didn’t escape blame.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has extended its order blocking full SNAP payments. The chaotic situation comes with no explanation on the court’s thinking and will expire just before midnight Thursday. People who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to feed their families in some states have received their full monthly allocations, while others have received nothing.
Meanwhile, New House member to be sworn in, paving the way for an Epstein files vote
Democrat Adelita Grijalva will be sworn in as its newest member, nearly seven weeks after winning a special election in Arizona.
Speaker Johnson had previously declined to seat her until the chamber reconvened.
For Grijalva, it’s the end of a weekslong delay that she and other Democrats said was intended to prevent her signature on a petition to eventually trigger a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein.