Trump signs bill to end US shutdown

President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in US history - 43 days that paralysed Washington and left hundreds of thousands of workers unpaid while Republicans and Democrats played a high-stakes blame game.

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US President Donald Trump signs funding legislation to reopen the US government, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

(BLOOMBERG)

The Republican-led House of Representatives voted largely along party lines to approve a Senate-passed package that will reopen federal departments and agencies, as many Democrats fume over what they see as a capitulation by party leaders.

Mr Trump lashed out at Democrats as he put his signature to the bill later in the Oval Office, urging Americans to remember the chaos when voting in hotly contested US midterm elections in a year's time.

"Today we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion," said Mr Trump, surrounded by gleeful Republican lawmakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Mr Johnson had earlier pointed the finger at the minority party in a withering floor speech before the vote.

"They knew that it would cause pain, and they did it anyway," he said. "The whole exercise was pointless. It was wrong and it was cruel."