Trump Signs Bill to Reopen Government After Record 43 Day Shutdown

8:12 PM PT -- President Donald Trump late Wednesday signed a bill to reopen the federal government, officially bringing an end to the bruising 43 day shutdown ... the longest the country has ever seen.

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is about to come to an end.

After GOP leaders presented a federal funding bill Wednesday, the measure has now been passed by the legislative branch and now it just needs to be signed by President Donald Trump, effectively reopening the government.

Trump is likely to sign off within the hour.

The full extent of the damage caused by the shutdown is difficult to measure, but this deal comes after millions of Americans reportedly missed food assistance benefits, and many federal employees missed out on paychecks, whether they were working or not.

The shutdown also forced hundreds of flight cancellations ... after the FAA ordered airlines to cut back flights due to a shortage of air traffic controllers made worse by the shutdown. Trump threatened some of those controllers in a Truth Social post this week.

The gridlocked status of Washington over the last month sparked Harvey Levin to launch his own initiative, OWTA -- which stands for "Out With Their Asses." The idea behind the movement is ... if elected officials can't work together to keep the government open, all of their offices should be up for grabs in the next election.