The government is back open.

It was the longest shutdown in U.S. history at 43 days .

There are lots of questions about what this means, how we got here and where we go from here. Let's answer some:

Why did it start?

The Democratic base has been urging its leaders to show more fight. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer caught tremendous blowback in March for doing an about-face and going along with Republicans to keep the government open despite what the left saw as an odious spending bill.

When the latest funding fight came up, Schumer this time showed a united front with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. Arm in arm, they refused to go along with continuing to fund the government, and made the key issue extending health care subsidies, which, if not extended, would mean t

See Full Page