By Ken Thomas and Sabrina Siddiqui
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government is set to reopen after a record-setting, 43-day shutdown. Now that President Trump has signed legislation to fund the government, the return to normal is expected to come relatively quickly -- though mountains of work awaits federal workers.
Here is what to know.
When will federal workers be paid?
If the reopening follows past shutdowns, federal workers should be paid within days. Officials said the timing will vary based on each federal agency. Military servicemembers continued to receive their pay during the shutdown.
The bill reverses the thousands of firings of federal workers started by the Trump administration during the shutdown. It also ensures back pay for federal workers after the White House questioned whether the money was guaranteed.
The legislation refers to laws that secure back pay for workers "at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates." Some agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the State Department, signaled they would move swiftly to issue back pay to employees, according to people familiar with their plans.
How soon will federal agencies reopen?
Federal agencies should begin resuming their activities, though the restart might vary agency by agency. For example, a State Department spokesman said that once the government reopens, the department expects to "immediately resume operations, including returning to normal staffing levels, activities, and programming," and that employees will return to work the next business day.
HHS employees were told to be prepared to return to work Thursday once Trump signs the bill.
Once they return, federal workers will have to play catch-up. "All of their work will have been piling up while they have been gone," said Max Stier, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group that promotes an effective civil service. "It's going to be a mess."
In January 2019, when Trump during his first term presided over what was then the longest shutdown ever, at 35 days, he signed the bill to reopen the government on a Friday. By the following Monday, most federal agencies were reopening, and federal employees were returning to work. A Jan. 25, 2019, memo from Russ Vought, Trump's first-term budget chief who has returned to the role in his second term, instructed executive departments and agency heads to "reopen offices in a prompt and orderly manner."
The Office of Management and Budget sent federal agencies a checklist during the 2019 reopening, urging them to manage the backlog of work, ensure they have enough staff to support payroll processes and benefit questions, and to "consider employee morale impacts."
An OMB spokesperson didn't immediately comment.
When will air travel and flight cancellations return to normal?
The end of the government shutdown doesn't mean travelers will immediately escape the specter of flight cancellations and delays. It will be days -- perhaps longer -- before U.S. air travel snaps back to normal.
Airlines need time to adjust schedules after the Federal Aviation Administration required a reduction in the volume of flights at 40 airports. Low air-traffic-control staffing weighed on the FAA before the shutdown, and that problem is likely to persist in the weeks ahead.
Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News on Monday he has "high confidence" that by the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will get the aviation system "almost back to normal."
When will SNAP funding return to normal?
Many of the nation's roughly 42 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients have been in limbo since the Trump administration declined to finance benefits in full during the shutdown.
At least 16 states paid out November benefits in full after a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the federal government must fully fund SNAP payments. Many other states were waiting for the matter to be settled in court as the Trump administration appealed the decision, leaving millions across the country who rely on the program without food assistance.
Once the government reopens, how quickly SNAP funding will be available to states that haven't distributed payments is hard to determine. It depends on how soon the administration makes those funds available and how long it takes states to disperse them, according to food-aid groups. Some states might release the money immediately, while others might experience a delay while getting their payment systems back on track.
How will the government reopening affect parks and museums?
Most national parks around the nation, including Yellowstone and Yosemite, have stayed partially open, staffed by a skeleton crew of rangers and other federal workers.
Once the government reopens, visitors can expect to be charged entrance fees at the parks again, and park employees will need to do damage assessments and cleanups. There have been reports of limited damage at some national parks, including the toppling of a stone wall near Devil's Den at Gettysburg National Military Park, in Pennsylvania, and graffiti at Arches National Park, in Utah.
Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo have been closed to the public since mid-October. According to the Smithsonian's records, more than 60% of its annual funding comes from the federal government. After the 2018-19 shutdown, the Smithsonian resumed operations a few days after the government reopened.
Write to Ken Thomas at ken.thomas@wsj.com and Sabrina Siddiqui at sabrina.siddiqui@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 13, 2025 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
