‘And we’re back’: Washington reboots itself after Congress ends shutdown

NBC NEWS - The federal government blinked back to life Thursday, hours after Congress swerved at the last minute to dodge a threatened economic catastrophe and ended a 16-day standoff that left Republicans with little to show for the fight...

The federal government blinked back to life Thursday, hours after Congress swerved at the last minute to dodge a threatened economic catastrophe and ended a 16-day standoff that left Republicans with little to show for the fight.

Hundreds of thousands of furloughed workers were ordered back on the job. At the Capitol, wheretwo nighttime votes ended the stalemate, tours — for a clearly frustrated American public — were set to resume.

The U.S. Geological Survey, the people who map mountains and measure earthquakes, posted a simple message on Twitter at sunrise, 16 days after its last tweet: “ … and we’re back.”

Barricades came down at national monuments. A Park Ranger took down the “THIS SITE IS CLOSED” sign at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The Smithsonian museum said it would open again Thursday, but other institutions needed a little more time to get back to business. The gates of the National Zoo will open Friday, the halls of the National Gallery of Art on Saturday.

Panda Cam, which allows admirers to check in on Mei Xiang and her cub, was still blacked out, but the National Zoo said it should be back later Thursday.

The Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the executive branch, posted a notice: “All employees who were on furlough due to the absence of appropriations may now return to work. You should reopen offices in a prompt and orderly manner.”

The restart came after votes in the Senate, by 81-18, and the House, by 285-144, to end the shutdown and extend the government’s power to borrow money.

Republicans, who had insisted on delaying or defunding President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, were left with only a small concession — tighter income verifications for people getting federal subsidies for insurance.

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