Benjamin Weiss

WASHINGTON (CN) — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history was effectively over Wednesday evening, after the House narrowly approved a short-term budget measure that will bring government programs sputtering back to life after more than a month.

The lower chamber voted 222-209 on a so-called continuing resolution, which will fund most government agencies through early January while keeping others online into next fall.

It’s a move that comes roughly 45 days after partisan deadlock caused federal appropriations to lapse, plunging the country into a protracted shutdown which saw federal employees out of work and crucial government aid programs out of cash.

But the end of the shutdown is a pyrrhic victory for Democrats, especially in the House, where lawmak

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