The U.S. Capitol is seen on the 40th day of a government shutdown on Nov. 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.

U.S. senators reached a bipartisan deal Sunday that would resume federal funding and end a shutdown which has stretched to a record 40 days and forced many government operations to grind to a halt.

The deal between Democratic and Republican senators — just the first step to halting the shutdown — came as authorities warned U.S. air travel could soon "slow to a trickle" as thousands more flights were cancelled or delayed over the weekend.

Outlets including CNN and Fox News reported lawmakers had reached a stopgap agreement to fund the government through January after wrangling over health care subsidies, food benefits and President Donald Trump's firings of federal employees.

As news of the breakthrough emerged, Trump told reporters when he arrived at the White House after a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida: "It looks like we're getting very close to the shutdown ending."

The Republican-led Senate swiftly held a procedural vote Sunday aimed at moving the legislative measure forward, and the vote appeared to have support from enough Democrats to advance.

Once it clears the Senate, it would need to pass the House of Representatives, also in Republican control, and then head to Trump's desk for his signature — a process that could take days.

Earlier Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that if the shutdown continued, the number of flights being snarled or cut would multiply while Americans gear up to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday later this month.

By Sunday evening, the number of cancellations of flights within the United States and to and from the U.S. had surpassed 2,700, with nearly 10,000 delays, according to data from tracking platform FlightAware.

Airports that were particularly hard hit included the three New York City area airports, Chicago's O'Hare, and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.