TAMPA, Fla. — The government is back in business - at least for now.
- Federal workers return to their jobs Monday
- President Trump announces deal to end longest federal shutdown in US history
- Deal funds government through February 15
- Longest government shutdown ends
Though the 35-day partial federal shutdown has ended and workers return to their jobs on Monday, some uncertainty still looms.
Some 800,000 federal employees had not worked or had been working without pay for 35 days while the Trump administration and Congress struggled over border security to come to an agreement to end the impasse.
The Senate unanimously passed the measure by voice vote late Friday afternoon, and the House approved it a few hours later.
The deal Trump announced would fund the government through February 15, he said. It wouldn't immediately provide money for Trump's long-sought border wall, though he said if he didn't get the $5 billion he's pushed for, the government will shut down again in three weeks, or he will declare a state of emergency.
One sector that should immediately return to normal is air travel.
The lack of workers started to take a toll last week at major airports across the country. About 50,000 TSA workers were still required to come to work, despite not being paid.
That prompted "sickouts" by TSA employees and staffing issues with air traffic controllers, causing major delays at airports in the northeast.
Although senators on Capitol Hill expressed relief that an agreement had been reached, some remain frustrated with a short-term fix.
"I don't think shutdowns are good leverage," said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. "It's a lesson I have certainly learned in my time here.
"Look, there's been two shutdowns since the time I have been there, and the aggressor in neither one was the winner."
Rep. Maxine Waters/D-California said she is hopeful for an agreement.
"I certainly hope that we can an agreement," she said. "It's been too long. Too many of our federal employees have suffered."
For those federal employees, legislation to guarantee back pay was signed but it could take several days before those paychecks are received.