On day 42 of the impasse, representatives are returning to Washington to decide whether to approve a Senate package that would fund federal agencies for two months. Republican leadership expressed confidence the spending plan would clear the lower chamber of Congress, despite their narrow majority. But top Democrats vowed to oppose it. President Donald Trump has indicated he will sign it into law. "We're opening up our country," he said on Tuesday at a Veterans Day event in Arlington, Virginia. "Should have never been closed."

The shutdown, which began on 1 October, has left a million federal workers unpaid, halted food stamps for low-income Americans, and delayed air travel for flyers ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. With nearly 1,200 flights cancelled on Tuesday as unpaid air traffic controllers call in sick because of the funding deadlock, lawmakers are finding other ways to reach Washington. Congressman Rick Crawford of Arkansas posted on X that he was carpooling with a fellow Republican, Trent Kelly of Mississippi, to the nation's capital. Congressman Derrick Van Orden said he was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle from his home state of Wisconsin. "It's going to be a little chilly," he posted on X of the 16-hour trip. "But I will do my duty." (BBC)