US Senate passes bill to end longest ever government shutdown  | Barbados Gazette – Barbados & Caribbean

The United States is moving closer to ending its record-breaking government shutdown after the Senate took a critical step forward to end its five-week impasse. The Senate on Monday night approved a spending package in a vote of 60 to 40 to fund the US government through January 30, 2026, and reinstate pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers. The spending bill next moves to the House of Representatives for approval and then on to President Donald Trump for a sign-off before the shutdown can finally end. The Senate vote follows negotiations this weekend that saw seven Democrats and one Independent agree to vote in favour of the updated spending package to end the shutdown, which enters its 42nd day on Tuesday. Also included in the deal are three-year funding appropriations for the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, military construction projects, veterans affairs and congressional operations. The bill does not, however, resolve one of the most central issues in the shutdown – extending healthcare subsidies. Senate Republicans have agreed to vote on the issue as a separate measure in December. US legislators have been under growing pressure to end the government shutdown, which enters its forty-second day on Tuesday, as their constituents feel the impact of funding lapses for programmes like food stamps. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or required to work without pay since the shutdown began on October 1, while Trump has separately threatened to use the shutdown as a pretext to slash the federal workforce. Voters have also felt the impact of the shutdown at airports across the US after the Federal Aviation Administration last week announced a 10 percent cut in air traffic due to absences from air traffic controllers. The cuts have created chaos for US air travel just as the country is heading into its busiest travel season of the year.