Government shutdowns have become a recurring feature of US politics, the product of partisan standoffs over spending that force federal agencies to halt a wide range of services.The last shutdown — the longest in history — ended in November. A dispute over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement activities could cause a new, partial shutdown beginning at midnight on Jan. 31. Senate minority Democrats have said they would not vote to advance a six-part funding bill unless the portion that funds the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is stripped out or the bill is amended to include limits on immigration enforcement. Senate Republicans are opposed to breaking up the bill, but because Democrats can block a final vote in the Senate, Republicans need the support of at least seven Democratic senators to move the legislation forward. The standoff is expected to lead to a shutdown of some agencies. Why does the government shut down?The US government runs on 12 appropriations bills passed each year by Congress and signed by the president. When all of those bills aren’t enacted by the October 1 start of the fiscal year, lawmakers typically rely on temporary funding measures — known as continuing resolutions, or CRs — to keep federal agencies operating while negotiations continue. If they can’t agree to a CR, the US government has what’s called a funding gap and federal agencies may need to take steps to shut down. Trump has signed six of the bills for fiscal 2025, which means a portion of the government is funded through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. The remaining agencies are only funded via a CR through January 30. The funding package passed by the House that’s before the Senate would fund them for the rest of the fiscal year. These agencies include the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State, Treasury, Transportation, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development. Funding for smaller agencies such as the Small Business Administration and Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the White House itself is also included in the package. How many times has this happened?The last shutdown, which began in October 2025, was the third under Trump across his two terms. At the time, Congress had failed to pass any of the 12 annual appropriations bills, leaving most of the government without full-year funding when temporary financing expired. It lasted for a record 43 days, ending only after enough Senate Democrats agreed to allow a vote on a short-term funding measure that temporarily reopened the government through January 30. The 2025 shutdown was the 15th funding gap since the modern budget era began in 1981. Before 1981, operations did not automatically cease when Congress failed to act by a funding deadline, and their expenses were covered retroactively once a deal was reached. The second longest shutdown in US history — over Trump’s insistence on adding $5.7bn to the budget for a wall on the border with Mexico — spanned 35 days in late 2018 and early 2019. What does a shutdown mean?It means many, though not all, federal government functions are suspended, and many, though not all, federal employees are furloughed. Services that the government deems “essential,” such as those related to law enforcement and public safety, continue. These essential employees typically work without pay until the shutdown ends. In 2019, Congress passed a law guaranteeing that federal workers who are furloughed will receive back pay once the government is funded again. During a partial shutdown, agencies funded by appropriations bills that have already passed are unaffected. During the last shutdown, the White House budget office moved to lay off thousands of federal workers, but those efforts were blocked by a court order and later suspended by a provision in the stopgap spending law that runs through Jan. 30. That protection would lapse if funding runs out again. Which workers are ‘essential’?Individual government departments — and the political appointees who run them — have a say over who comes to work and who stays home. In theory at least, a federal employee who works during a shutdown, but isn’t supposed to, could face fines or a prison term under what’s called the Anti-deficiency Act. Military operations, air traffic control, medical care of veterans and federal criminal investigations are among the essential activities that go on. What government services cease in a shutdown?The 2025 shutdown affected the entire federal government, making its impact broader than the looming partial shutdown. For instance, if the shutdown commences, unlike last time, economic data collection by the Commerce Department will not be interrupted and the Food and Drug Administration will be able to continue accepting new drug applications. However, if Congress fails to reach a deal by midnight on January 30, non-essential staff at the Pentagon will be furloughed and the State Department will likely curtail routine passport and visa issuance. DHS will shut down, forcing federal disaster workers and Transportation Security Administration officers to do their jobs without pay. The Internal Revenue Service, which is beginning tax season, will go without funding, potentially delaying the processing of tax returns and responses to customer service questions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will shutter, likely delaying the next unemployment report, which is watched closely by markets. Small Business Administration loan activity will cease. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will likely halt casework. The Internal Revenue Service, which is beginning tax season, would go without funding during a shutdown, potentially delaying the processing of tax returns and responses to customer service questions. The US Postal Service and the Federal Reserve have their own funding streams and are largely unaffected by government shutdowns. What happens to federal contracts?Private companies that rely on federal contract work — ranging from defence contractors such as Lockheed Martin to janitorial service providers for local federal buildings — typically face lost revenue. Service contract employees historically have been furloughed during shutdowns and haven’t received back pay when the government resumes operations. What happens to government checks?Entitlement programmes such as Social Security and Medicare are considered mandatory spending, meaning they don’t need annual appropriations to continue distributing money. That doesn’t mean such programmes are unaffected. During a 1996 shutdown, even as Social Security checks continued to go out, “staff who handled new enrolments and other services, such as changing addresses or handling requests for new Social Security cards, were initially furloughed,” according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. And during the 2018-2019 shutdown, the Department of Agriculture had to rely on a special authority included in the previous continuing resolution to continue issuing food stamps.The Trump administration attempted to pause food stamp payments to states during the shutdown, a step that drew legal challenges from state officials, who argued the administration lacked legal authority to withhold benefits. A US appeals court intervened to keep benefits flowing, but the cases ended with the shutdown, leaving the underlying legal questions unresolved.
