As of October 3rd, 2025, America has been put into a government shutdown. This delay began at 12:01 AM on October 1st, and is yet to end.
But what is a government shutdown?
Shutdowns of the national government occur when Congress is unable to come to a common consensus regarding spending measures.
This time, there was an inability to reach an agreement regarding funding for federal agencies. This means that these agencies will soon run out of the money needed to operate their different services and compensate their workers. Shutdowns can cause delays in public services, furloughs of federal employees, and even (at least in the current administration) job layoffs. However, those with jobs deemed essential for public safety are forced to work without pay.
Has this happened before?
Yes, there have been 21 total government shutdowns in American history, 3 of which took place in the 21st century. The first of these was in 2013, which lasted 16 days. It sprouted from the failure of our representatives to reach an agreement about Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), which helps lower-income Americans pay for healthcare. The second government shutdown was in January of 2018, and only lasted 3 days. It was over protections for “Dreamers,” or young immigrants brought into the country illegally when they were children. Only a few weeks after this, another brief shutdown took place in February over a funding bill that would have added over $300 billion to the federal deficit, though it ended a few hours later when the House and Senate passed the spending. The last (and longest ever) shutdown began in December of 2018 and lasted 35 days until January of 2019, when President Trump asked for $5.7 billion to fund his Mexican-American wall. Democratic congressional representatives flagrantly opposed this request. Though this may seem like a large amount of closures, Former President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) held the record for most shutdowns during his term with a sum of 5 in total.
What effects will I see?
Since federal agencies are currently going without their annual funding, you may be able to see declines in different federally provided services. During the 35-day shutdown 7 years ago, the FDA halted regular inspections. National Parks also halted collection of trash and road services, and some parks and museums were fully closed. Tens of thousands of immigration hearings were canceled and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was put in danger. It is unknown if these actions will be repeated this year. Many essential operations, such as TSA, Social Security, SNAP, veteran support, and Medicare are considered mandatory expenditures and will continue to be available, though they may experience slowdowns.
How does a government shutdown end?
For a shutdown to end, Congress must pass and the President must sign the needed funding or “appropriations” bills. The President does not have the authority to end the shutdown on his own; he must rely on the typical legislative process of the bill being approved by the House and the Senate.
It seems apparent that the Trump administration is using our current government shutdown as an opportunity to further its agenda of lessening federal spending by firing thousands of federal employees. According to the White House website, the Republican administration is choosing to blame the incompetency of Democrats for this incident. Nevertheless, both parties are pressuring the other to end the shutdown as soon as possible, while also having their demands acknowledged by the right-dominated Congress.
