Trump signs bill ending the longest government shutdown in history: "I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this"

President Donald Trump signed into law on Wednesday that finally ended the longest government shutdown in US history.

Accompanied by his congressional allies from the Oval Office, the president addressed Americans, asking them not to forget about the government shutdown, holding Democrats directly responsible for the matter.

"For the past 43 days, Democrats in Congress shut down the government of the United States in an attempt to extort American taxpayers for hundreds of billions of dollars for illegal aliens... Today, we’re sending a clear message that we will NEVER give in to extortion," the U.S. leader said.

"The Democrats' shutdown has inflicted massive harm. They caused 20,000 flights to be cancelled or delayed... they deprived more than 1M government workers of their paychecks and cut off food stamp benefits of millions and millions of Americans in need," Trump continued. "I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this."

"It's an honor now to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again," the president concluded.

The president's signature followed the bill's passage in the lower chamber in a vote that ended 222-209 in favor, following almost strictly along party lines, with only two Republicans opposing the measure in protest of deficit spending and six Democrats deciding to support it after citing the importance of resuming the flow of federal funds as soon as possible. The conservatives who opposed it were Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida. The latter had previously announced during a conversation with reporters that he would vote against the bill.

In a joint statement from the House Republican leadership—signed by Speaker Mike Johnson and Representatives Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer, and Lisa McClain—the GOP celebrated the measure's passage and delivered a direct message to congressional Democrats.

"The Democrat Shutdown is finally over, thanks to House and Senate Republicans. There is absolutely no question now that Democrats are responsible for millions of American families going hungry, millions of travelers left stranded in airports, and our troops left wondering if they would receive their next paycheck. It was the Democratic Party that voted 15 times to keep the government closed and force the longest shutdown in U.S. history. All of it was pointless and utterly foolish. Democrats admitted they used the American people as 'leverage' and hurt their constituents on purpose—but they got nothing for their selfish political stunt. Voters will remember which party played political games in an attempt to 'look tough' to their base, while real people suffered."

While several Democrats voted with Republicans, most of their representatives opposed the bill, including their most senior leaders. One of these was Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who told reporters several hours before the vote that Democrats were frustrated at how the bill was failing to address COVID-19 pandemic-era health subsidies under Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). "House Democrats are here on the Capitol steps to reiterate our strong opposition to this spending bill because it fails to address the Republican healthcare crisis, and it fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credit," Jeffries said in a statement.

Wednesday's vote came two days after the Senate passed a new bill, after that chamber's Republican majority reached an agreement with eight Democrats to end the stalemate that led to the government shutdown last October 1. Previously, fourteen votes in the Senate failed to pass a Republican-driven bill in the lower chamber that would have funded the government until mid-November.

Under the deal reached in the Senate, Republicans agreed to allow Democrats a vote in December on a bill of their choice to extend those enhanced grants, which are scheduled to expire at the end of that month.