The U.S. House of Representatives late on Wednesday (Nov.12) voted 222-209 to reopen the federal government via a spending package approved previously in the Senate when eight Democrats broke ranks and joined with majority Republicans to set the stage to end the longest shutdown in history at 43 days.

Media reports said President Trump is expected to sign the legislation into law before the end of Wednesday, allowing the federal government to open its doors on Thursday.

The bill provides full-year funding for the Dept. of Agriculture, the FDA, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, military construction, and the operations of Congress. All other agencies, like the Dept. of Health and Human Services, which houses the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), are funded only through Jan. 30, 2026.

While Medicare and Medicaid payments continued unabated throughout the shutdown, most other CMS operations stood at a standstill, like for regular standard surveys of skilled nursing facilities. Other key areas of the long-term care profession stalled by the standoff included the processing of new HUD loans and the non-payment for certain telehealth services, among other items.

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