Thousands of requests, claims and calls have accumulated during the shutdown, which became the longest in U.S. history. Federal agencies will need to sort, process and approve them one by one.
Even as President Donald Trump signed legislation ending the government shutdown, experts warned that recovery for federal programs and services won't be immediate.
"There will be some delay in terms of the immediacy," Michael Bitzer, a political science professor with Catawba College, said.
Bitzer said reopening the government is just the first step in a longer process before operations return to normal.
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