2026 United States federal government shutdown: Difference between revisions

 

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After a meeting when the White House on Monday, Republicans [[Anna Paulina Luna]] and [[Tim Burchett]] announced they would support the procedural rule vote after receiving insurances that the Senate would modify the fillibuster to pass legislation to require voter ID and prevent non-citizens from voting.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Rogerson|last2=Luetkemeyer|first1=Riley|first2=Em|title=Congress Is Set to Pass a Funding Deal After Trump Gets Holdouts in Line|url=https://www.notus.org/congress/congress-is-set-to-pass-a-funding-deal-after-trump-gets-holdouts-in-line|website=NOTUS|date=February 2, 2026|access-date=February 3, 2026|language=en}}</ref> Though Republican Senate Majority Leader [[John Thune]], the next day, denied that the Senate had agreed to modify the fillibuster.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Carney|first1=Jordain|title=No filibuster deal with House conservatives, Thune says|url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/02/03/congress/thune-filibuster-deal-luna-00761867|website=Politico|date=February 3, 2026|access-date=February 3, 2026|language=en}}</ref> Later on Monday, [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]] voted along party lines to advance the legislation to the House floor.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Brooks|first1=Emily|title=House panel advances funding bill to reopen government, teeing up tight floor vote|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5719718-house-rules-funding-bill-shutdown/|website=The Hill|date=February 2, 2026|access-date=February 3, 2026|language=en}}</ref>

After a meeting when the White House on Monday, Republicans [[Anna Paulina Luna]] and [[Tim Burchett]] announced they would support the procedural rule vote after receiving insurances that the Senate would modify the fillibuster to pass legislation to require voter ID and prevent non-citizens from voting.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Rogerson|last2=Luetkemeyer|first1=Riley|first2=Em|title=Congress Is Set to Pass a Funding Deal After Trump Gets Holdouts in Line|url=https://www.notus.org/congress/congress-is-set-to-pass-a-funding-deal-after-trump-gets-holdouts-in-line|website=NOTUS|date=February 2, 2026|access-date=February 3, 2026|language=en}}</ref> Though Republican Senate Majority Leader [[John Thune]], the next day, denied that the Senate had agreed to modify the fillibuster.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Carney|first1=Jordain|title=No filibuster deal with House conservatives, Thune says|url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/02/03/congress/thune-filibuster-deal-luna-00761867|website=Politico|date=February 3, 2026|access-date=February 3, 2026|language=en}}</ref> Later on Monday, [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]] voted along party lines to advance the legislation to the House floor.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Brooks|first1=Emily|title=House panel advances funding bill to reopen government, teeing up tight floor vote|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5719718-house-rules-funding-bill-shutdown/|website=The Hill|date=February 2, 2026|access-date=February 3, 2026|language=en}}</ref>

Prior to the vote, and after Senator Thune denied a fillibuster agreement was in place, Republican [[John Rose (Tennessee politician)|John Rose]] of Tennessee called on Republicans to “hold the line” and vote against the rule for the legislation because it did not include the SAVE Act.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=RepJohnRose |number=2018723279737892899 |title=LeaderJohnThune is already backtracking on what he reportedly told some House Republicans: that if we reopened the government, he’d keep his word and bring the SAVE Act to the floor. House Republicans MUST hold the line and refuse to fold on something as fundamental as election integrity. The SAVE Act belongs on must-pass legislation.}}</ref>

==Effects==

==Effects==

2026 United States federal government shutdown

Date	January 31, 2026 – present (2026-01-31 – present) (4 days)
Cause	End of certain appropriations from the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026

At 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time on January 31, 2026, about half of the departments of the federal government of the United States shut down as Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year after a previous continuing resolution expired.

By late January 2026, Congress had passed six of the twelve required full-year appropriations bills. Congress reached an agreement to pass the rest of the bills as part of a single package that successfully passed the House on January 22, 2026. However, the agreement collapsed following the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on January 24, 2026. Democrats announced they would no longer support Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill, which funds CBP.

After a week of negotations, on January 29, 2026, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement to separate the DHS funding bill, and pass a package containing the other five bills plus a two-week continuing resolution for DHS. The agreement passed the Senate in a 71–29 vote on January 30, 2026.

Afterwards, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced that the House would not vote on the revised agreement until Monday, February 2, 2026. As a result, the Office of Management and Budget said they would begin shutdown procedures at midnight on Saturday, January 31, when funding ran out. The vote to end the shutdown was later pushed back to at-least Tuesday, February 3.

Article One of the United States Constitution vests the U.S. Congress with the authority to appropriate funds drawn from the Treasury.^[1]: 1 Political polarization has affected this 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 when the previous funding term ends.^[1]: 28-29 In a government shutdown, federal agencies continue work categorized as “essential“, but federal employees and contractors are furloughed and not immediately paid.^[3]

The 2025 federal government shutdown began after government funding expired on October 1, 2025.^[4] On November 9, 2025, after negotiations between Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, a deal was revealed to end the shutdown. The agreement would include a continuing resolution that would fund the government until the end of January, and full-year appropriations bills for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture, military construction, and the Legislative Branch.

A package was enacted in mid-January 2026 including the appropriations bills for Interior and Environment; Commerce, Justice, and science (including NASA and the National Science Foundation); and Energy and water development activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of the Interior.^[5][6][7]

Later in January, the House and Senate reached agreements to pass the final three appropriations bills needed to avoid a partial government shutdown. These three bills passed the House on January 22, 2026.^[8][9]

Following the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on January 24, 2026, Democrats in the Senate announced they would no longer support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill, which funds CBP.^[10]

On January 29, 2026, the Senate failed to advance the government funding package in a 45–55 vote. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the bill. Most of the Republicans voting against the bill were fiscal conservatives, including Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rick Scott and Ashley Moody of Florida. Unlike the Democrats, these Republicans are seeking more funding cuts and are generally opposed to a new deal between Republicans and Democrats for Homeland Security funding.^[11]

Later that day, a deal was announced in the Senate to separate the DHS funding bill, and pass a package containing the other five bills plus a two-week continuing resolution for DHS. Passage was briefly delayed by a hold placed by Senator Lindsey Graham, who opposed repeal of a provision allowing senators to sue over phone records collected during the Arctic Frost investigation, and the lack of full-year DHS appropriations. Graham removed the hold in return for votes on legislation to criminalize refusal of state and local officials to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, and to expand eligibility of those investigated by Jack Smith to sue the Department of Justice.^[12][13] On January 30, the bill passed the Senate 71–29.^[14]

After passing the Senate, Speaker of House Mike Johnson said the House would not take up the bill until Monday, February 2, 2026. As a result, Office of Management and Budget said they would begin shutdown procedures at midnight on Saturday, January 31, when funding ran out.^[15]

Mike Johnson announced that Republicans would look to pass the bill through a suspension of the rules. In a regular rule vote, which is generally a party line vote, a small number of fiscally conservative Republicans upset at the deal could stop the bill’s passage by voting down the procedural rule vote. Under suspension of the rules, a two-thirds majority is needed to pass bills, requiring a large number of Democrats to also vote for the agreement along with Republicans. However, on Saturday, January 31, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries informed Johnson that Democrats would not provide the votes to pass the bill under suspension of the rules. As a result, a vote to end the shutdown will be pushed to at-least Tuesday, February 3.^[16]

Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not yet endorsed the agreement. Democrat Greg Casar of Texas, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced his opposition to the package. Other Democrats, including Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, who both formerly were members of Democratic House leadership, and New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider, have endorsed the package.^[17] Republicans Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Tim Burchett of Tennessee, fiscal conservatives, have threatened to oppose the bill if it was not coupled with legislation to require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.^[18][19][17]

The first procedural step to pass the bill in the House occured with a vote in the House Rules Committee on February 2, 2026. As a result of the January 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus have enough votes in the Commitee to stop the bills passage if they so choose. Chip Roy of Texas and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, both Freedom Caucus members, did not say which way they plan to vote.^[16]

Democrat Christian Menefee, who was elected in a special election on Saturday, January 31, was sworn in on Monday. This reduces the Republican majority in the House to 218–214, meaning that Republicans can only afford to lose one vote on party-line votes.^[17]

After a meeting when the White House on Monday, Republicans Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett announced they would support the procedural rule vote after receiving insurances that the Senate would modify the fillibuster to pass legislation to require voter ID and prevent non-citizens from voting.^[20] Though Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the next day, denied that the Senate had agreed to modify the fillibuster.^[21] Later on Monday, House Rules Committee voted along party lines to advance the legislation to the House floor.^[22]

Prior to the vote, and after Senator Thune denied a fillibuster agreement was in place, Republican John Rose of Tennessee called on Republicans to “hold the line” and vote against the rule for the legislation because it did not include the SAVE Act.^[23]

Agencies affected by the shutdown include the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense (except functions listed below), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, Education, and Homeland Security, as well as the Executive Office of the President, several independent agencies, and the Judicial Branch.^[24]

Agencies not affected are the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Commerce, Justice, and Energy; some functions of Defense (water development activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and military construction); some independent agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and National Science Foundation; and the Legislative Branch.^[25]

Despite the Federal Emergency Management Agency being shutdown, FEMA has about $7 billion to $8 billion left to respond to disaster and weather response, including the January 30–February 1, 2026 United States winter storm. However, other FEMA operations, like National Flood Insurance Program policies, shutdown.^[26]

10,000 Federal Aviation Administration workers were furloughed as a result of the shutdown. In addition, air traffic controllers will continue to work, but without pay.^[27]

About 8,000 of all 27,000 direct hire State Department employees were furloughed as a result of the shutdown. Essential State Department services, including passport and visa services, along with the operation of embassies and consulates will continue. Other services, such nonemergency consular notifications and website updates, were shutdown.^[26]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will use money appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act to avoid furloughs until February 7.^[28]