Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

It’s official.

For the first time since 19 September or for the first time in 54 days, the House is officially in session.

This means, the vote to reopen the government is inching closer.

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Image source, Reuters

Democratic Rep Jim McGovern told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that he took a train from Massachusetts to Washington to avoid flight delays caused by the shutdown.

He said on Tuesday: “Rather than fly to Logan Airport, I decided to take a train from Massachusetts down to Washington just to avoid any delays, because the Rules Committee is meeting tonight, and I had to be here so I couldn't afford to have my plane cancelled.”

He said people on the train “wanted to know when this was going to end, and wanted to know whether or not we were going to solve the health care crisis that was looming".

In his opening remarks as the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, he mocked his Republican counterparts at Tuesday night's meeting.

"Welcome back. Long time no see. I hardly recognize you guys. Where the hell have you been?" he said, accusing them of taking a "nice, two-month paid vacation" while Speaker Johnson kept the House out of session, and joking that they had handed out missing person posters.

The committee approved the bill without amendment on a party line vote after a seven-hour meeting.

Nardine Saad

Image source, Getty Images

In a media briefing at the White House earlier today, President Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Democrats "dragged on" the government shutdown for 43 days and that the damage caused by the "reckless" shutdown "cannot be forgotten".

On top of federal workers missing pay cheques, and disruptions in air travel and food benefits, Leavitt added that the US has "lost billions and billions of dollars in economic activity".

She said that "it feels like Groundhog Day being up here again, talking about this Democrat shutdown".

"The Democrats' weakness and their unwillingness to buck the fringe members of their party dragged this harmful shutdown on for seven weeks and inflicted massive pain onto the American public," she said.

She added that the "clean" continuing resolution that lawmakers are voting on today in the House of Representatives "will lead to the reopening of the federal government" and "is what President Trump and Republicans have supported from day one".

Image source, EPA

House Speaker Mike Johnson kept the chamber out of session for the last seven weeks to focus pressure on Senate Democrats to make a shutdown deal.

Once the Senate reached a deal on the funding package, he urged lawmakers to immediately start returning immediately to Washington ahead of today's vote.

But members of Congress face the same flight delays and cancellations that have plagued other Americans during the spending impasse.

From yesterday, the mandatory reduction in US flights imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration increased from 4% to 6%.

The cuts to domestic travel came in at the nation's busiest airports in an effort to reduce the workload on air traffic controllers who are working without pay during the shutdown.

Many have been calling in sick, leaving those in control towers struggling to cope with the usual number of flights per day, which in turn has led to lengthy delays.

Record-cold temperatures and heavy snow have also hit the Great Lakes region in the Midwest, adding to the delays.

Even when the shutdown ends, it could take a long time for air travel to return to normal.

Image source, Getty Images

When the House returns to vote on the shutdown, a new congresswoman will also be sworn in.

Democratic Rep Adelita Grijalva was elected seven weeks ago in a special election in the state of Arizona.

House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed he will be swearing Grijalva in around 16:00 local time, just ahead of when votes are set to begin on the spending bill.

"After seven weeks of waiting, I almost can't believe it's true," she said in a video posted on social media.

She also took a moment to criticise the Republican-backed spending bill.

"I am really upset that one of the first votes I will take is on a bill that does nothing for the healthcare of the American people," she said.

Grijalva is actually stepping into the seat of her father, Raul Grijalva, who died earlier this year. She was elected on 23 September, but the House has not been in session since 19 September.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York

This government shutdown has been long. In fact, there has never been one this long in US history.

So let's refresh on some of the key moments of the last 43 days:

19 September - The US House passes a resolution to fund the government. Later in the day, the Senate rejects it with its lawmakers at an impasse

1 October - The federal government shuts down. Services deemed non-essential start being suspended and thousands of employees furloughed

10 October - The Trump administration begins laying off federal workers

11 October - Trump directs the defence secretary to pay military personnel despite the shutdown

15 October - A judge temporarily blocks Trump from laying off federal workers

24 October - Hundreds of thousands of federal workers miss their first full paychecks

1 November - Money runs out for government food aid program, Snap, impacting 42 million Americans

5 November - Shutdown becomes the longest in US history after Senate rejects a spending bill 14 times

7 November - The government directs airlines to cut a percent of domestic flights, causing delays and cancellations at airports

9 November - Suddenly, an end to the impasse. Senators from both parties reach a deal to end the shutdown

10 November - The Senate passes the government funding bill, returning it to the House for approval

11 November - The House Rules Committee approves the Senate bill without amendment on party lines in a seven-hour meeting, sending it to the House floor

12 November - House is set to vote on the funding bill with President Trump possibly signing it into law later in the evening

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

A collective sigh of relief is on the horizon for millions of Americans if the US House of Representatives does what they’ve promised to do later this evening and votes to reopen the federal government.

I’m back on Capitol Hill, where House lawmakers have returned for the first time in more than 50 days.

First issue on the docket is passing legislation - approved by the Senate on Monday - that would reopen the government and get essential services like food assistance funding back to millions of Americans.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has a narrow majority of 219-214 to work with when the vote comes to the floor around 19:00EST (00:00 GMT).

As soon as the vote passes in the House, it will head to President Trump’s desk where he’s expected to sign it.

Welcome to our live coverage - stick with us and we’ll bring you the latest.

Image source, Reuters

The House of Representatives has a Republican majority, and if the party members are united in their "yes" votes, the bill will pass.

However, they have a thin margin of error and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson could face a few obstacles along the way to getting the bill onto President Trump's desk:

1. Delayed flights to Washington. Speaker Johnson urged lawmakers to start returning immediately to Washington ahead of the vote. But even politicians aren't immune to the shutdown-related flight delays. US flights are now reduced by 6% - and cold weather is adding to the delays.
2. Democratic opposition. It's hard to know how much pushback the Republican-backed bill will face from Democratic lawmakers in the House. The shutdown fight has accentuated tensions between centrist Democrats and left-wing factions of the party. Some progressives have slammed the bill - others say they may vote with Republicans to pass it
3. Do Republicans have the votes? Republicans have the majority in the House, but they can only afford to lose two votes. Some fiscal hawks in the party may vote no.
4. Healthcare. A key sticking point throughout the shutdown has been Democrats' desire to add language to the bill that preserves healthcare tax credits for Americans. Senate Republicans instead only agreed to grant Democrats a vote in December on whether to extend the subsidies. If premiums do rise, this could be a bad look for Republicans.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York

Image source, Reuters

It's day 43 of the longest government shutdown in US history - and today the House of Representatives will vote on whether to bring it to an end.

Thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or working without pay throughout the course of the shutdown. Others have been laid off.

Travellers also continue to face shutdown-related chaos at US airports, as air traffic control staffing issues have led to flight cancellations and delays.

The US Senate, which was deadlocked for over a month, passed a bill on Monday to fund the government through January and extend food assistance programs through late 2026.

Now, that Republican-backed bill is in the House's hands.

Republicans have the majority in the House, but their margin for error is slim. Objections could be raised from both sides of the political aisle.

If the bill is passed, it will move on to the desk of President Donald Trump, who is expected to approve it.