2026 United States federal government shutdown: Difference between revisions

 

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{{Use American English|date=January 2026}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}}

On January 31, 2026, the [[United States]] federal government will shut down, with most agencies being affected, due to the failure to pass legislation to fund such agencies before the current continuing appropriations for them by the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, which ended the [[2025 United States federal government shutdown|previous 2025 shutdown]], expire. On January 30, the [[United States Senate|Senate]] voted 71–29 to pass a bill that would extend funding through the 2026 [[fiscal year]] (through September 30, 2026), but it has not been passed by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] or signed by the [[President of the United States|President]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/30/government-shutdown-senate-vote-dhs.html|title=Senate passes funding deal, but government will still partially shutdown at midnight|date=January 30, 2026|access-date=January 30, 2026|website=[[CNBC]]|last=Mangan|first=Dan|last2=Breuninger|first2=Kevin}}</ref>

On January 31, 2026, the [[United States]] federal government will shut down, with most agencies being affected, due to the failure to pass legislation to fund such agencies before the current continuing appropriations for them by the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, which ended the [[2025 United States federal government shutdown|previous 2025 shutdown]], expire. On January 30, the [[United States Senate|Senate]] voted 71–29 to pass a bill that would extend funding through the 2026 [[fiscal year]] (through September 30, 2026), but it has not been passed by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] or signed by the [[President of the United States|President]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/30/government-shutdown-senate-vote-dhs.html|title=Senate passes funding deal, but government will still partially shutdown at midnight|date=January 30, 2026|access-date=January 30, 2026|website=[[CNBC]]|last=Mangan|first=Dan|last2=Breuninger|first2=Kevin}}</ref>

On January 31, 2026, the United States federal government will shut down, with most agencies being affected, due to the failure to pass legislation to fund such agencies before the current continuing appropriations for them by the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026, which ended the previous 2025 shutdown, expire. On January 30, the Senate voted 71–29 to pass a bill that would extend funding through the 2026 fiscal year (through September 30, 2026), but it has not been passed by the House of Representatives or signed by the President.^[1]

Article One of the United States Constitution vests the U.S. Congress with the authority to appropriate funds drawn from the Treasury.^[2]: 1 Since 1977, the federal budget process has used a fiscal year that runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year, with 12 individual spending bills that must be passed.^[2]: 12 Political polarization has affected this process, often forcing lawmakers to pass continuing resolutions to temporarily fund the government.^[3]

The failure of Congress to agree on funding legislation leads to a government shutdown when the previous funding term ends.^[2]: 28-29 In a government shutdown, federal agencies continue 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.^[4]

During the summer of 2025, House Republicans, passed three partisan spending bills, mostly along party lines.^[5] However, none of the bills passed the Senate, which requires 60 votes, necessitating the support of some Democrats, to avoid a government shutdown.^[6]

To avert a government shutdown, House Republicans unveiled a continuing resolution to keep the government funded under current spending levels until November 21. Republicans called the proposal a clean continuing resolution, lacking partisan policy riders. The resolution also includes $30 million for lawmaker security.^[7] Democrats criticized the proposal because it lacked extensions for Affordable Care Act tax credits.^[8] The bill passed the House but only received three Democratic votes (Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennyslvania and Angus King of Maine) in the Senate, resulting in the bill failing to surpass a 60-vote Democratic fillibuster.^[9] Without an agreement, government funding expired after midnight on October 1, 2025, triggering a government shutdown.^[10]

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.

The full-year bills include $203.5 million to fund security for members of Congress and $852 million for US Capitol Police. In addition, the continuing resolution guarantees that federal employees who faced lay-offs during the shutdown be rehired and granted backpay. It would additionally bar the Office of Management and Budget from implementing mass layoffs of federal workers throughout the length of the continuing resolution.^[8][11] The deal also guarantees a vote in the Senate to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. The agreement passed both the House and the Senate, and was signed into law by President Trump, thus ending the shutdown, on November 12, 2025.^[12]

In addition of the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, military construction, and legislative branch funding that passed to end the 2025 Government Shutdown, funding 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 was passed in January 2026.^[13]

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.^[14][15]

However, following the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agents on January 24, 2026, Democrats in the Senate announced they would no longer support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill, which funds CPB.^[16]

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.^[17]

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.^[18][19] On January 30, the bill passed the Senate 71–29.^[20]