Trump signs bill ending longest government shutdown in US history

The forty-second week of his second administration was another busy week president Donald Trump.

This week, Trump signed legislation ending the longest government shutdown in history, supported the use of H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, announced plans to ask the Justice Department to evaluate ties between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and other American figures, and pardoned those accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

Here’s a look at what happened.

Government shutdown ends

On Wednesday evening, Trump signed legislation passed by the House and Senate earlier in the week to fund the government again, as the consequences of declining funding began to mount, such as unpaid salaries to federal employees and airline delays due to air traffic controller staffing shortages.

The bill maintains Financing for the government In line with FY 2025 spending levels through January 30 to provide an opportunity for lawmakers to determine a longer appropriations measure for FY 2026.

The measure also allocates spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), on which more than 42 million Americans depend, through September. The program supports non-low-income or low-income individuals or families to purchase groceries using a debit card.

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President Donald Trump signed legislation passed by the House and Senate earlier in the week to fund the government again. (Maryam Zohaib/Associated Press)

Additionally, the measure reverses layoffs that the Trump administration began earlier in October, and pays employees for their absences.

Criticisms of the foreign worker visa

Trump also gave an interview with Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham that aired Monday and Tuesday, in which he said bringing foreign workers to the United States on H-1B visas is important to “bring talent” to the United States. After Ingraham claimed that the United States had talent at home, Trump disagreed.

“No, you don’t. No, you don’t. You don’t. You don’t have certain talents. People have to learn!” Trump said. “You can’t take people off the unemployment line and say I’m going to put you in a factory where we’re going to make rockets.”

The longest government shutdown in history is likely to end as the House moves on a funding bill

H-1B visas allow US companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers for up to six years.

It’s an issue that has remained controversial among MAGA supporters. Those who support the program claim it is critical to US competitiveness, but opponents say visa holders deprive Americans of jobs.

Trump’s statements sparked criticism from his electoral base. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, later rebuked Trump’s comments, saying they were “America first and America only.”

“I believe in the American people,” Green said. “I am one of you. I believe you are good, talented, creative, smart, hardworking, and want to achieve. I am strongly against being replaced by foreign workers, as is the case with H1Bs.”

Trump signs a bill ending the longest government shutdown in US history

President Donald Trump speaks during breakfast with Senate and House Republicans in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)

In response to the criticism, the White House pointed out: Trump administration announcement In September, it will require a $100,000 annual fee for businesses seeking an H-1B visa. Additionally, the White House noted that the Department of Labor launched Project Firewall in September in an effort to ensure that employers do not abuse the H-1B visa process.

Separately, Trump also defended previous statements supporting allowing up to 600,000 Chinese students To come to the United States in his interview with Ingraham, he stressed that they must study in the United States so that American colleges do not “go out of business.”

Trump’s former UN ambassador Nikki Haley said doing so would be a “huge mistake.”

“This would be a huge gift to China and a threat to the United States,” Haley said in a post on X on Thursday.

More Epstein documents

Additionally, Trump announced on Friday that he would order the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteinrelationship with those including the former president Bill Clintonand former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and others.

This announcement came after both Democrats and Republicans debated House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Thousands of documents were released Wednesday related to Epstein — including emails in which Trump was mentioned. However, the documents do not allege any wrongdoing by Trump and simply show Epstein mentioning him.

“This is another Russian Scam, and all arrows point to the Democrats,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. “Records indicate that these men, and many others, spent significant portions of their lives with Epstein and on his ‘island.’ Stay tuned!!!”

Photo of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump standing together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, February 22, 1997. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

Clinton denied ever having visited Epstein’s island, and wrote in his 2024 memoir, Citizen, that he wished they had never met. A spokesman for Summers did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Presidential pardon

Late Sunday, the Trump administration announced that the president had pardoned more than 70 people accused of seeking to overthrow the government. 2020 elections results.

But the presidential pardon only applies to federal charges, and those involved have no federal charges against them, meaning the move is primarily a symbolic gesture.

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Among those pardoned were Trump allies such as the former mayor of New York City and the president’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who claimed the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump. Giuliani is currently caught up in a case in Arizona where he faces state charges of election interference over those statements.

last Pardoning prominent figures These include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.