After weeks of needless pain and turmoil, President Trump last week signed into law Republicans’ bill to reopen the government and end the Schumer Shutdown—a huge win for Tennesseans and Americans across the country who desperately needed relief. But it should have never come to this. Democrats forced the nation into the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, and the American people will not forget it.

The core of the legislation—a stop-gap funding bill that keeps government spending at current levels—has been on the table since before the shutdown started on October 1. Yet Democrats voted more than a dozen times to block it, holding the government hostage in an effort to ram through $1.5 trillion in new spending, including hundreds of billions for the broken Obamacare program.

After more than five weeks of harmful obstruction, a handful of Democrats finally came to their senses and joined Republicans to end the Schumer Shutdown—but not before it inflicted serious harm.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the shutdown cost the U.S. economy $11 billion in permanently lost GDP. Small businesses missed out on nearly $7 billion in federal loans that help them keep their doors open and employees paid. More than one million workers—including federal law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day—went unpaid. Federal nutritional assistance dried up for more than 40 million people. Over five million travelers faceddelayed or canceled flights due to air traffic controller shortages, disruptions that will continue as our aviation system recovers.

None of this needed to happen. Democrats tried to use the American people as pawns for their radical agenda. They failed. Now, Republicans are focused on getting Congress back to work and finishing our appropriations process.

With the federal government funded through January 30, Republicans are restoring regular orderfor all 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026. Three of those bills—Military Construction–Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch—have already been signed into law as part of the legislation to reopen the government.

These measures delivered huge wins for Tennesseans, including funding for a new air traffic control tower at Fort Campbell and for the design of a modernized hangar and investments in University of Tennessee agriculture research.

In the weeks ahead, Republicans will build on this success by bringing the nine remaining appropriations bills to the floor for a vote, ensuring that the government is fully funded through the rest of the fiscal year. Not only will this prevent Democrats from taking the government hostage again, but it will also make certain that federal spending reflects President Trump’s America First agenda.

The Schumer Shutdown was a costly setback for our country. While Democrats own the consequences, Republicans are charting a path forward to make our nation stronger than ever before.