This photo taken on Nov. 12, 2025 shows the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

While the U.S. federal government reopens, the damage -- institutional, economic and psychological -- is lasting. The end of the record-long shutdown in no way warrants the restoration of functioning U.S. governance. It is no more than a pause before another partisan gridlock looms.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed a Senate-approved spending package, ending the congressional deadlock that led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

While the shutdown's end brings temporary relief, it also exposes a far deeper malaise: a paralyzed system where partisan confrontation has eclipsed the capacity to govern.

What began as a dispute over budget priorities evolved into a mirror reflecting the corrosion of the U.S. political system, where polarization replaces pragmatism and partisan warfare outweighs public welfare.

The human cost has been immense. Ordinary Americans are bearing the immediate consequences. Roughly 750,000 federal employees have been furloughed or forced to work without pay. More than 9,000 flights were delayed or canceled as air traffic control operations faltered. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program serving one-eighth of the U.S. population was suspended, and funding for low-income heating assistance froze as winter approached.

The economic toll is also mounting. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the shutdown could reduce annualized real GDP growth in the fourth quarter by up to 2 percentage points.

Federal employees receive free meals at a free food distribution stall in Washington, D.C., the United States, Nov. 5, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

At first glance, the standoff appears to center on disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over healthcare and social programs. But its persistence exposes a deeper structural ailment: The United States has drifted from the "separation of powers" to a "confrontation of powers" and from "procedural justice" to "procedural paralysis." The result is not governance but permanent confrontation -- "veto politics" where blocking the opponent matters more than solving national problems.

The shutdown mechanism was intended to promote fiscal discipline and strengthen legislative oversight over government spending. However, the frequency and duration of shutdowns have been worsening over the past decade -- from 16 days in 2013 over the Affordable Care Act to 35 days in 2018-19 over the U.S.-Mexico border wall funding to the latest more than 40 days of impasse, turning budget approval, a routine procedure testing the government's capacity to govern, into a fierce arena of partisan combat.

In today's Washington, a system of checks and balances once designed to encourage compromise now treats compromise as capitulation, and governing has given way to constant campaigning. The record-breaking shutdown coincides with the early stages of the 2026 midterm season, as both parties seek to turn crisis into political advantage. Republicans accuse Democrats of "holding Americans hostage" over healthcare subsidies, while Democrats cast themselves as defenders of ordinary families against "Republican cruelty."

Caught in between are the very Americans both parties claim to represent -- hundreds of thousands of federal workers struggling to pay bills, and millions more whose livelihoods depend on government stability.

While the U.S. federal government reopens, the damage -- institutional, economic and psychological -- is lasting. The end of the record-long shutdown in no way warrants the restoration of functioning U.S. governance. It is no more than a pause before another partisan gridlock looms.