DAY 43: It's almost over
- Agora
- Nov 12
- 3 min read
AGORA SHUTDOWN UPDATE
November 12, 2025
The House returns from its extremely extended vacation today to take up the Senate-passed continuing resolution (CR) to re-open the government. If all goes to plan, the vote should take place around 7 pm tonight.
This being Congress, of course, nothing ever goes exactly to plan. And with an incredibly narrow majority (narrowed even further by the swearing-in, at long last, of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva [D-AZ]), the outcome of any House vote is never assured. While it is likely to pass, some last-minute drama as each party tries to keep their members in line may make things interesting.
Assuming the CR passes, it goes to the White House, ending the shutdown. But its effects will linger, as airlines try to get back to normal and federal employees come back to the job after a record time in furlough. And the political consequences will continue to echo, with Democrats second-guessing the decision by eight of their Senators to vote for the CR, and Republicans reckoning with the looming expiration of the Obamacare subsidies that were at the heart of the shutdown.
Plus, there’s the inconvenient fact that the CR only lasts until January 30, meaning that, unless Congress can finish work on all the appropriations bills by then, another CR fight could be in the offing. But for now, the longest shutdown in US history is thisclose to ending.
CONGRESS
The U.S. Senate approved a stopgap spending bill Monday that will end the longest government shutdown in American history once the measure becomes law later this week.
After refusing to convene the U.S. House during the government shutdown, Speaker Mike Johnson is recalling lawmakers back into session — and facing an avalanche of pent-up legislative demands from those who have largely been sidelined from governing.
The Senate bill to reopen the government is expected to pass the House on Wednesday, but there are a few key lawmakers in both parties who will make or break the vote as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) navigates a razor-thin Republican majority in the lower chamber.
House Democratic leaders on Tuesday will propose a three-year extension of the soon-to-expire Obamacare subsidies at the center of the shutdown fight. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the Democratic whip, will offer the legislation as an amendment to the Senate-passed spending agreement during a meeting of the Rules Committee on Tuesday night.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s (N.Y.) handling of the deal between centrist Democrats and Republicans that is ending the 42-day government shutdown has left some Democratic colleagues fuming over what they are privately calling weak leadership.
WHITE HOUSE
The Supreme Court extended on Tuesday a temporary ruling that allowed the Trump administration to withhold full food stamp benefits while Congress worked to advance a measure to end the government shutdown.
FEDERAL AGENCIES
Congress appears poised to end the longest-ever shutdown later this week with a bill with major implications for several key agencies.
The Education Department violated its furloughed employees’ First Amendment rights when it modified their out-of-office emails to blame the ongoing government shutdown on congressional Democrats, a federal judge ruled on Nov. 7.
THE IMPACT
Flight operations in the United States appeared to improve Wednesday, with fewer scheduled cancellations on the sixth day of air travel disruptions, though airlines have warned it would take time for normal services to resume.
What does a shutdown mean for government contractors, employees, grantees and the general public? Click here for more information.
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