Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a funding bill to end the longest government shutdown in US history shortly after the House voted in favor of the measure.

Trump's signature, considered a formality after the measure passed both chambers of Congress, put an end to a 43-day-long stalemate which has left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay and has disrupted public services.

"So with my signature, the Federal government will now resume normal operations and my administration and our partners in Congress will continue our work to lower the cost of living, restore public safety, grow our economy and make America affordable again," Trump said as he signed the bill.

"It's a great day," he continued as reporters were led out of the Oval Office immediately after the signing.

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Earlier on Wednesday, 222 members of the US House of Representatives voted in favor of the transitional budget, which is set to fund the government through the end of January, and 209 against.

The package funds military construction, veterans' affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress itself through next fall, and the rest of government through the end of January when lawmakers will again need to reach a funding agreement.

Around 670,000 furloughed civil servants will report back to work, and a similar number who were kept at their posts with no compensation – including more than 60,000 air traffic controllers and airport security staff – will get back pay. Federal workers fired by Trump during the shutdown will also be reinstated.

Travel delays looked set to improve but not disappear with almost 1,000 flights cancelled on Thursday, according to tracking website FlightAware. Authorities said air traffic controller shortages were easing and the transportation secretary on Wednesday released a fresh order for 6% of flights to be frozen.

Democratic House leadership, furious over their Senate colleagues folding, had urged members to vote no and all but a handful held the line.

For more than five weeks, the party held firm on refusing to reopen the government unless Trump agreed to extend pandemic-era tax credits that made health insurance affordable for millions of Americans.

Election victories in multiple states last week gave Democrats further encouragement and a renewed sense of purpose.

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But a group of eight Senate moderates broke ranks to cut a deal with Republicans that offered no guarantees that an extension to the credits will even come to a vote, never mind actually get passed.

Democrats are now deep in a painful reckoning over how their tough stance crumbled without any notable win, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer facing widespread calls to step down.