House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the media in Statuary Hall after the House voted 222-209 to pass the Senate’s funding deal on Nov. 12.

WASHINGTON – The longest-ever government shutdown is finally over.

Congress doesn't have much time to avoid another.

The next funding deadline, Jan. 30, is fewer than three months away. And while it's not clear whether Democrats, divided over how the political mess ultimately resolved after 43 days, will be eager for another showdown then, the political temperature in Washington likely won't be any cooler.

Obamacare cliff a key factor

Unless lawmakers take action prior to the end of the year, the Jan. 30 cutoff date will also land just weeks after the reality of Democrats' central shutdown demand hits millions of Americans. Their main ask was to extend health insurance subsidies that will expire after 2025, skyrocketing premiums across the country for enrollees in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

But Democrats didn't get what they wanted.

Instead, a small group of them in the Senate accepted an offer from Republicans to hold a vote in mid-December on a bill to solve the problem. There's no guarantee that bill will pass, though.

And even if any tentative Obamacare legislation did make it through the Senate, it would probably face an even worse fate in the House of Representatives (not to mention the threat of a presidential veto).

Democratic leadership in Congress hasn't explicitly called for another funding fight come January. But progressives are still fuming about their moderate colleagues striking an agreement with Republicans and the White House that didn't deliver on the primary goal they'd promised their constituents they'd fight for, tooth and nail.

"We will continue to get into good trouble to make their lives better," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, on the floor of the chamber Wednesday night, Nov. 12. "That's our commitment to every single American all across this country, from this day and for every day moving forward."

VA, SNAP funded through September 2026

If Democrats decide once more to risk the political fallout of another shutdown, the impact likely won't be quite as painful as the last six weeks.

That's because the spending bill that President Donald Trump signed on Thursday, Nov. 13, at least partially funds the federal government for nearly a full year. Several agencies and branches – including the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Agriculture Department and Congress – received appropriations through September 2026. Key programs for food assistance and veterans' benefits would be safeguarded from another potential lapse in the budget. Unlike this time around, congressional staffers wouldn't miss paychecks.

To keep the rest of the government open, however, Congress needs to pass the rest of its annual appropriations bills or another short-term funding extension before Jan. 30.

Otherwise, Americans could once again feel the steadily intensifying pain of air travel disruptions, shuttered preschools and many of the same consequences they just faced for more than a month.

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is another government shutdown fight around the corner?

Reporting by Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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