Welcome back to The Conversation—Newsweek’s weekly roundup of reader comments. We turn our focus to the U.S. government shutdown which came to an end after 43 days—the longest in history. President Donald Trump signed the funding bill Wednesday night, after the House of Representatives voted to reopen the federal government.

The vote ended 222 to 209 in a victory for Trump and the Republicans, who did not agree to extend health care subsidies as Democrats had demanded. The vote was pushed through after six Democrats voted with Republicans to pass the funding bill.

The extended shutdown affected millions of Americans, causing flight cancellations and delays to food assistance payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), while federal workers went unpaid. Officials w

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