2025 United States federal government shutdown: Difference between revisions

 

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==Shutdown process and negotiations==

==Shutdown process and negotiations==

The [[federal government of the United States]] shut down at midnight [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] on October 1, 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/30/government-shutdown-senate/ |title=Government set to shut down overnight after Senate blocks funding extension |date=September 30, 2025 |last1=Beggin |first1=Riley |last2=Natanson |first2=Hannah |last3=Meyer |first3=Theodoric |last4=Sotomayor |first4=Marianna |last5=Bogage |first5=Jacob |work=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=September 30, 2025}}</ref> It is the twenty-first funding gap and eleventh government shutdown in modern American history, the third to occur in a Trump presidency, and the first to occur since [[2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown|a government shutdown]] that lasted from December 2018 to January 2019 during the first Trump administration.<ref name=gamio/>

The [[federal government of the United States]] shut down at midnight [[Eastern Time Zone|]] on October 1, 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/30/government-shutdown-senate/ |title=Government set to shut down overnight after Senate blocks funding extension |date=September 30, 2025 |last1=Beggin |first1=Riley |last2=Natanson |first2=Hannah |last3=Meyer |first3=Theodoric |last4=Sotomayor |first4=Marianna |last5=Bogage |first5=Jacob |work=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=September 30, 2025}}</ref> It is the twenty-first funding gap and eleventh government shutdown in modern American history, the third to occur in a Trump presidency, and the first to occur since [[2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown|a government shutdown]] that lasted from December 2018 to January 2019 during the first Trump administration.<ref name=gamio/>

==Impact==

==Impact==

On October 1, 2025, the federal government of the United States began a shutdown at 12:01 a.m. EDT as a result of congressional inaction on the federal budget for that fiscal year.

The U.S. Congress is vested the authority to appropriate funds drawn from the Treasury in Article One of the United States Constitution.^[1] Since 1977, the federal budget process has involved a fiscal year, spanning October 1 to September 30 of the following year, with twelve individual spending bills that must be passed. Political polarization has affected the appropriations process, often forcing lawmakers to pass continuing resolutions to temporarily fund the government.^[2]

The failure of Congress to agree on funding legislation leads to a government shutdown after the previous funding term ends.^[1] In a government shutdown, federal agencies continues work categorized as “essential”, but federal employees and contractors are furloughed and not immediately paid. The authority to determine the work that continues is vested in the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, although the President has broad authority over this process.^[3]

Ahead of a lapse of government funding expected to occur in March 2025, Democrats in Congress largely objected to funding the government as president Donald Trump moved to assume control of the extent of its operations, including eliminating federal funding and firing government workers. Hours before the deadline, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer announced that he would support a continuing resolution to fund the government through September, arguing that Trump’s efforts were being halted in the courts—which could be impeded by a shutdown; that a shutdown would give greater authority to the Department of Government Efficiency; and that market uncertainty would mount over a shutdown in addition to imminent widespread tariffs, causing ambiguity over the responsibility of economic fear.^[4] Schumer’s support incited other Democrats to vote in favor of a temporary continuing resolution proposed by Republicans, allowing the measure to pass and averting a shutdown. Schumer faced criticism from several Democrats over his move, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.^[5]

The continuing resolution passed by Republicans set a deadline through the remainder of that year’s fiscal budget term, expected to conclude at the end of September. In July, Republicans approved the Trump administration‘s request to rescind US$9 billion allocated for foreign aid and public broadcasting. Washington senator Patty Murray, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, told The New York Times that the “partisan rescissions bill” complicated efforts for Democrats to work with Republicans on a funding bill for the following year’s budget, set to begin in October. That month, senators opened debate on a series of appropriations bills, beginning with military construction projects and veterans programs. Democrats indicated that they would seek to avert a shutdown in budget discussions.^[4] Senators approved an initial set of spending bills in August, including US$433 billion for veterans programs, US$19.8 billion for military construction and family housing projects, US$27.1 billion for agricultural programs, and US$7.1 billion to continue the operations of Congress and legislative agencies.^[6]

Although the bills passed prior to an anticipated recess that month—for the first time since 2018, objections mounted, indicating further resistance ahead of the deadline. Louisiana senator John Kennedy unsuccessfully sought a two percent reduction in the agriculture bill. Kennedy later called for a separate vote on the legislative branch funding bill to state his opposition to the funding level. A fourth bill that would have funded the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and science agencies faltered after opposition from Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen. The legislative branch funding bill largely kept the Government Accountability Office‘s funding levels consistent, despite the agency’s conflict with the Trump administration; the House of Representatives‘s bill halved the office’s budget.^[6] In September, House speaker Mike Johnson and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries discussed extending government funding into November or December.^[7] A continuing resolution emerged as a likely possibility to resolve the impasse, though the cession of Congress’s authority to determine spending concerned several Democrats.^[8]

The Trump administration, along with several fiscal hawks, advocated for funding the government through January. Conversely, Democrats and some Republicans sought a deal through November to ensure additional time for a compromise. The administration’s move to cancel US$5 billion in foreign aid through a pocket rescission further intensified the impasse. House and Senate appropriators suggested a bill to fund the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and congressional operations for a year with a short-term extension for other agencies.^[9] Maryland representative Andy Harris, the chair of the Freedom Caucus, expressed reluctant support for a temporary bill proposed by Oklahoma representative Tom Cole, the chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, so long as Cole had the votes.^[10] The discussions collided with the Trump administration’s request to bolster security for Supreme Court justices and increase funding for the Marshals Service following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.^[11] Lower court judges additionally sought security of their own.^[12]

Democrats sought to force Republicans to extend insurance subsidies, set to expire at the end of the year.^[13] Trump publicly told Republicans not to “bother dealing with them”^[14] and to support Cole’s “clean” continuing resolution;^[15] Additional funding for lawmakers after the assassination delayed the release of the bill.^[16] On September 16, Johnson released the spending bill without insurance subsidies, expecting Democrats to balk and cause a shutdown or to support a bill that would retain the status quo, increasing health insurance premiums for Affordable Care Act recipients.^[17] Kentucky representative Thomas Massie, Indiana representative Victoria Spartz and Kentucky senator Rand Paul, all fiscally conservative Republicans, opposed the bill over its spending additions and a narrow timeline for a larger appropriations bill.^[18] Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican, also initially opposed the bill becuase she believed it couldn’t pass in the Senate.^[19] Democrats opposed the bill^[20] and proposed a stiff counteroffer to increase health spending by US$1 trillion.^[21] The Republican plan passed the House on September 19 but failed in the Senate. Moderate Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to vote for the plan. That same day, the Democratic plan failed in the Senate on party lines.^[22]

Schumer and Jeffries requested a meeting with Trump after the votes failed.^[23] Trump abruptly canceled the meeting, calling their demands “unserious”,^[24] but met with the Democrats, joined by Johnson and Thune, in the Oval Office one day before the deadline;^[25] the meeting was Jeffries’s first with Trump and Trump’s first invitation to Democrats to the White House.^[25] The meeting failed to yield an agreement. Vice president JD Vance stated that he believed a shutdown was imminent, blaming Democrats.^[26]

On September 30, 2025, hours before the shutdown began, the Senate voted again on the Democratic and Republican plans. The Democratic plan again failed on party lines. All Republicans except Paul, along with Democrats Angus King of Maine^[a], Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted for the plan. Despite receiving a majority of votes in the Senate, the Republican failed to pass because it could not overcome a 60-vote filibuster. After the votes, the Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to execute their shutdown plans.^[27]

The federal government of the United States shut down at midnight EDT on October 1, 2025.^[28] It is the twenty-first funding gap and eleventh government shutdown in modern American history, the third to occur in a Trump presidency, and the first to occur since a government shutdown that lasted from December 2018 to January 2019 during the first Trump administration.^[2]

An estimated nine hundred thousand federal workers are expected to be furloughed and an additional seven hundred thousand may work without pay, according to the Partnership for Public Service. Following the 2018–2019 government shutdown, federal employees are ensured back pay, though private contractors are not. Soldiers in the Armed Forces will not be paid.^[29] The Department of Agriculture intends to lay off workers.^[30]

Expected agency furloughs^[31]

Agency	Employees	Planned furloughs	Percentage
General Services Administration	240	234	98%
Environmental Protection Agency	15,166	13,432	89%
Department of Education	2,447	2,117	87%
Department of Commerce	42,984	34,711	81%
Department of Labor	12,916	9,775	76%
Department of State	26,995	16,651	62%
Department of Defense[b]	741,477	334,904	45%
Department of Health and Human Services	79,717	32,460	41%
Small Business Administration	6,201	1,456	23%
Department of Transportation	53,717	12,213	23%
Social Security Administration	51,825	6,197	12%
Department of Justice	115,131	12,480	11%
Office of Personnel Management	2,007	210	10%
Department of Homeland Security	271,927	14,184	5%
Department of Veterans Affairs	461,499	14,874	3%

The Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce are set to suspend economic data releases for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, respectively.^[32] The Office of the Trade Representative will remain open, according to the trade representative, Jamieson Greer.^[33]

Ahead of the shutdown, the United States dollar and Treasury securities fell.^[34]

Although the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is not expected to be affected, a continued shutdown may deplete contingency funding, delaying payments.^[35] The WIC program is expected to be paused.^[29]

The shutdown will not affect Medicare and Medicaid, though certain services, such as Medicare card procurement, may shut down.^[35] The health insurance marketplace and Food and Drug Administration drug approvals are additionally set to continue.^[36] The Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services intend to furlough much of their staff, with some retention at the Food and Drug Administration;^[36] Marty Makary, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told employees that his agency was exempt from shutdown cuts, according to Bloomberg Law.^[37] The National Institutes of Health will retain only a quarter of its staff, preventing the agency from issuing grant peer reviews, conducting advisory council meetings, and performing basic research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s communications operations will be affected.^[36]

The absence of an extension to insurance subsidies threatened California‘s health insurance marketplace, the largest in the country.^[38]

The Transportation Security Administration and Amtrak will continue to function despite the shutdown. ^[39]

Following the unsuccessful back-to-back votes, president Donald Trump told reporters that Democrats in the Senate “want to shut down the country”, with the exception of Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman, who voted for the Republican spending bill.^[40] After his meeting with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Trump posted an AI-generated video of the men, with Schumer’s audio deceptively saying that Democrats “have no voters anymore, because of our woke, trans bullshit” and that “if we give all these illegal aliens health care, we might be able to get them on our side so they can vote for us.”^[41] In an interview with Politico‘s Dasha Burns, Trump stated that Democrats were “deranged”.^[42]

Hours before the shutdown was set to begin, the Department of Housing and Urban Development‘s website warned, in a pop-up and a red banner, that the “radical left” would hurt the United States. The message elicited concerns that it could violate the Hatch Act.^[43]

Several Republican officials and organizations, including vice president JD Vance, the Senate Republican Conference, and House speaker Mike Johnson, purveyed the false claim that Democrats were demanding free health care for undocumented immigrants.^[44]

Democrats proposed a constant livestream to discuss the shutdown.^[45]

In a letter to secretary of the interior Doug Burgum, over thirty-five former park superintendents urged the parks managed by the National Park Service to be closed.^[46]

In a poll by NPR, 38% of respondents blamed the Republican Party for the shutdown, compared to 27% who blamed the Democratic Party, 31% who blamed both parties, and 1% who blamed neither. Another poll conducted days prior, which controlled for political affiliation, indicated that while Democrats and Republicans were more likely to blame each other for a hypothetical shutdown, independent voters were most likely to blame both.^[47]