The longest shutdown in the history of the American government has officially ended – Mehr news agency RCO News Agency

According to RCO News Agency, quoted by Al Jazeera, US President Donald Trump said during the signing ceremony of the law ending the longest shutdown of the federal government in the history of the United States amid the applause of the Republican lawmakers who gathered around him in the Oval Office: “Today we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to blackmail.”

The shutdown of the US federal government was carried out as the US Congress passed a bill that was approved by the House of Representatives by a relative majority (222 votes to 219 votes) and is supposed to reopen federal offices and agencies.

The plan provides funding for the government through Jan. 30, including resuming suspended food aid, paying hundreds of thousands of federal workers and restarting air traffic control.

In this way, about 670,000 civil servants who were temporarily fired will return to work, and the same number of those who remained without pay, including more than 60,000 air traffic controllers and airport security personnel, will receive their back pay.

Earlier, House Republican Majority Leader Mike Johnson said a vote on the funding package would take place tonight local time. He asked his colleagues in both parties to think carefully and finally do the right thing.

Eight Senate Democrats had defected earlier in the week, which helped pass the temporary funding package. The issue has sharply divided Democrats, as many believe they should stick with extending federal health insurance benefits that expire at the end of the year.

House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party would introduce separate legislation to extend the benefits for three years. He added that Republicans and Trump are ignoring the growing cost of living crisis in the country.