The chaos from the government shutdown might not be over — even as Capitol Hill reopens its doors.
The longest shutdown in US history ended Wednesday, with the House reaching an agreement to fund the federal government through January 30. It also sets aside money for agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs through 2026.
The 43-day-long shutdown disrupted everything from benefit programs to air travel to employee paychecks. And, though federal agencies are resuming operations, it could take longer for Americans’ lives to return to normalcy.
Here’s what to expect as the shutdown comes to an end.
Federal workers will receive their first paycheck in over a month
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or working without pay since October 1.
Business Insider has spoken with over two dozen federal workers across various agencies who have missed paychecks since the shutdown began. Many said they have cut back on expenses, such as home repairs, social outings, and their children’s activities. A few struggled to afford essentials like groceries and rent, and some have taken out emergency loans to make ends meet.
This paycheck pause applied to most government employees, except for lawmakers, military, and select law enforcement.
Checks for federal workers and contractors will resume with the government reopening. Congress’ spending agreement also guarantees that these employees will receive back pay for hours worked during the shutdown — money that the Trump administration previously hinted it may not pay.
It could take time for these employees to pay off loans and replenish savings that were depleted in recent weeks. In terms of job security, the House-approved bills require the Trump administration to reverse any staff cuts made during the shutdown.
“I guess it was a bit of relief that I still have a job and I know where my next paycheck is going to come from when the shutdown ends,” said one Centers for Disease Control employee, “But the ground has been shaken beneath us.”
It could take weeks for airport issues to be resolved
Travelers aren’t out of the woods yet. The Federal Aviation Administration has canceled thousands of flights since Friday, when government officials reduced flying by 10% at 40 US airports.
Late Wednesday evening, the US Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration issued a joint statement, announcing that the agencies would freeze flight reductions at 6% following positive staffing trends among air traffic controllers.
As Henry Harteveldt, an aviation strategist at Atmosphere Research Group, told Business Insider: “This is not a rubber band, so it’s not going to snap back.” He estimates that it could take one to two weeks for flight schedules to return to normal. That could coincide with the busy Thanksgiving travel week.
NerdWallet travel expert Sally French told Business Insider that the FAA-mandated flight cancellations make it harder for airlines to quickly recover.
“People shouldn’t just automatically assume if they have a flight this weekend, that everything is going to be exactly perfect,” she said. “There’s still going to be kind of the snowball effect.”
Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium shows cancellations peaked on Sunday, with about 10% of scheduled flights canceled. However, it said things were improving on Wednesday, which could give airlines some buffer to catch up before the Thanksgiving rush.
National parks, museums, and historical sites experienced full or partial closures during the shutdown and will now reopen to visitors.
SNAP will resume for millions of Americans
Food stamps will resume as normal with the government reopen. Forty-two million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to afford groceries every month.
During the last weeks of the shutdown, SNAP was caught in a legal back-and-forth. The program had enough in the bank for October benefits but ran out of money to pay in November. Federal judges ordered the Trump administration to dip into contingency funds to fund the program, a move that was eventually paused by the Supreme Court.
SNAP is fully funded at the federal level and managed by individual states. With the government reopen, states will be able to send full November benefits to eligible households. And new families were processed into the SNAP system during the shutdown, so anyone who applied for benefits after October 1 should be able to receive checks.
Other aid like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will fully resume. Head Start childcare centers should also receive the funds they need to operate.
Congress’ agreement secures SNAP funding through most of 2026, though the program will still see changes going forward. New work requirements from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act began on November 1 and mandate nondisabled adults without dependents to fulfill work requirements until they reach age 64 to qualify for aid, up from the current cutoff age of 54. Funding for federal nutrition aid, such as SNAP, is also set to be reduced by nearly $200 billion over the next decade.
Marketplace health insurance costs will spike
Healthcare spending was at the center of the 2025 shutdown. Democrats called for the extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies initially implemented in 2021 — which alleviate healthcare costs for millions of low- and middle-income Americans on Marketplace plans — beyond their December 31 expiration date. The subsidies were not extended under the current agreement, though the Senate will vote again on the issue in December.
Democratic leaders also pushed for the reversal of Medicaid funding changes made under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which could cause millions of low-income Americans to lose access to health insurance. This proposal was not included in the final spending bill, and Trump’s changes will remain in effect.
With open enrollment beginning in November, people on marketplace plans could see a staggering increase in their expected 2026 healthcare costs. A KFF analysis found that the expiration of enhanced ACA tax credits will spike out-of-pocket premiums for marketplace enrollees by an average of over 75%, with insurers expecting that healthier enrollees will drop coverage.
