(WASHINGTON) — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history could end as soon as Wednesday, ultimately putting hundreds of thousands of federal employees back to work, funding food stamps and smoothing out major travel disruptions.

The reopening averts a recession that may have come to pass in the event of a prolonged shutdown lasting weeks or months longer, analysts told ABC News.

A return of federal-worker backpay and the resumption of SNAP benefits, meanwhile, is set to undo most of the economic damage incurred by the shutdown, the analysts said. Still, they added, the two-month continuing resolution passed by the Senate risks future losses if a second shutdown begins early next year.

The shutdown arrived at a delicate moment for the nation’s economy, as a hiring slowdown raises f

See Full Page