Trump signed the bill to end the longest government in history. Really?

President Donald Trump signed a bill on Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The bill was passed nearly two hours after the House of Representatives voted to restore disrupted food assistance, pay millions of federal employees, and revive the stalled air-traffic control system. The Republican-controlled House passed the package by a vote of 222-209. Mr. Trump’s support has kept his party united despite strong opposition from House Democrats. Democrats are upset that the long deadlock initiated by their Senate colleagues failed to reach a compromise to increase federal health insurance subsidies. With Mr. Trump’s signing of this bill, federal employees who were unemployed due to the 43-day shutdown will return to their jobs starting Thursday, although it remains unclear how quickly government services and operations will fully resume. It will continue funding until January 30, putting the federal government on track to add about $1.8 trillion each year to its $38 trillion debt. The Senate approved this bill earlier this week. The end of the shutdown, or some hope, is that it will take some time for services, particularly critical for air travel, to recover as the Thanksgiving holiday travel surge is just two weeks away. The restoration of food assistance could free up money in household budgets for millions of families amid the peak of the Christmas shopping season. The lack of data also means that in the coming days, major statistical agencies will release fewer numbers on the U.S. economy. The absence of data has left investors, policymakers, and household families largely in the dark about the state of the labor market, the direction of the economy, the pace of consumer spending, and overall economic growth. This voting took place eight days after the Democrats’ wins in several high-profile elections, which many in the party believed strengthened their chances of securing an extension of health insurance subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Although this agreement means there will be a vote on these subsidies in the Senate in December, Speaker Mike Johnson has not made any such promise in the House. Despite the back-and-forth accusations, it does not appear that either party has scored a clear victory. A Reuters/Ipsos survey released on Wednesday found that 50% of Americans blamed Republicans for the shutdown, while 47% blamed the Democrats.