government shutdown

government shutdown, What is a government shutdown, and how does it affect the United States when it happens? How often do government shutdowns happen? These and other questions are answered below.

What is a government shutdown?

A government shutdown, as the term is most commonly used in the United States, is a forced cessation of most nonessential operations and services (i.e., those that are not deemed necessary to protect national security, public health, public safety, or property) performed by a range of federal departments and agencies due to lack of funding. The lack of funding itself results from the failure of Congress to pass, or from the refusal of the president to sign, one or more of the annual appropriations bills normally enacted by the start of each fiscal year on October 1. Under the Antideficiency Act (1884; amended 1950) as interpreted since the early 1980s, as well as other laws adopted in the 1970s that strengthened Congress’s control over the budgeting process, most federal departments and agencies may not spend, or commit themselves to spending, funds in excess of the amounts specified in relevant appropriations bills. If no bill funding a given department or agency has been passed by Congress and signed by the president by October 1, the department or agency must cease all nonessential functions and remain effectively closed until such a bill or a continuing resolution is enacted. If some bills or resolutions are signed into law on time and others are not, the resulting shutdown is called “partial.”

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Why do government shutdowns happen?

In the United States, government shutdowns typically result from partisan disagreements over proposed funding levels in budgetary recommendations submitted to Congress by the president on the first Monday of February. They may also stem from controversial amendments to appropriations bills, some of which have little to do with the funding of federal departments and agencies. Among the most significant government shutdowns in U.S. history was a partial shutdown that began on December 22, 2018 during the first term of Pres. Donald Trump (2017–21). Trump declined to sign an appropriations bill covering nine federal departments—including the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, and the Treasury—and several agencies, because the bill did not allocate funding for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, as the president had requested. The resulting shutdown lasted until January 25, 2019. In late September 2025, during Trump’s second term (2025– ), a full government shutdown seemed imminent as Democratic senators, citing upcoming cuts to healthcare services under the Republican budget for fiscal year 2025–26, refused to support a stopgap measure that would have extended current government funding levels into November 2025. As expected, a full government shutdown began on October 1. It ended on November 12, after a handful of Democratic senators agreed to a controversial deal with Republicans to extend government funding levels to January 30, 2026.

In January, agents of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency shot and killed two Americans amid anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a result, Congressional Democrats refused to approve an existing bill that included a massive budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE operations. On January 30, Senate Democrats and Republicans passed a compromise bill funding most remaining departments through the end of the fiscal year but limiting funding for the DHS and its agencies to two weeks while negotiations over DHS operations continued. Because the House of Representatives did not pass the Senate bill on January 30, a partial government shutdown began the next day. On February 3, the House passed the bill and Trump signed it into law. The time-limited negotiations concerning DHS operations did not reach an agreement, and another partial government shutdown began on February 14.

That partial government shutdown became the longest in U.S. history as of the end of March 2026 when the Republican-controlled House rejected a bi-partisan deal secured by the Republican-controlled Senate. The shutdown was particularly high profile because it resulted Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers at airports not being paid leading to at times hours-long waits for travelers. Pres. Donald Trump authorized the payment of back-pay to TSA agents, but tens of thousands of other DHS employees, including those working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), continued to work without pay. Some DHS employees, including those working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) were paid out of funds from the 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Who is affected by a government shutdown?

Those who are most directly and immediately affected by a government shutdown are the employees of the department or agency that is forced to close or to cease paying its workers. Among hundreds of thousands of federal employees, most are furloughed, or placed on unpaid leave, while others—particularly those who perform essential services such as law enforcement, border protection, and air traffic control—are forced to work without pay (though such workers are usually compensated for their unpaid labor once the relevant appropriations bill is enacted). Also affected are government contractors and their employees as well as large numbers of other companies from which federal agencies purchase products or services—some of which have faced bankruptcy as a result of a shutdown. The country as a whole may also be affected by the termination or slowdown of regular government services, such as issuing passports, processing business loans or subsidies and issuing federal grants to state and local governments, maintaining national parks, and conducting food-safety inspections. As shutdowns continue, the funding of programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) may be suspended, threatening the food security of millions of low-income Americans.

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Longer and broader shutdowns can affect the entire economy by lowering U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) once the government has ceased to operate. For example, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the partial shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019 had reduced GDP by $3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018 and by $8 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The CBO predicted that most of the losses in GDP would eventually be recovered, but about $3 billion in losses would not. Understandably, other things being equal, the longer a government shutdown continues, the greater the economic damage it causes.

Who is not affected by a government shutdown?

Major social welfare programs including Social Security and Medicare are largely unaffected by government shutdowns, because they are funded through laws that do not require annual congressional approval. (Such programs, however, may rely on ancillary services that are curtailed or halted during a shutdown. During some shutdowns, for example, the Social Security Administration has been unable to issue Social Security cards.) The Federal Reserve and the U.S. Postal Service also remain fully functional, because both receive funding from sources other than the federal government. Although federal courts receive most of their funding through congressional appropriations, they are generally able to continue operating for a limited time by relying on court fee balances and cash reserves carried over from preceding fiscal years. Federal judges themselves, including Supreme Court justices, are also immune from furlough. Members of Congress are excepted from furloughs because their status as paid employees is guaranteed by law and even by the U.S. Constitution, which states that “Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States” (Article I, Section 6). The Constitution also guarantees the salary of the president of the United States, who “shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected” (Article II, Section 1).

How common are government shutdowns?

From the 1970s to the present there have been 22 full government shutdowns, ranging in duration from 1 to more than 35 full days. The starting and ending dates of the 10 longest shutdowns, as well as the presidents associated with them, are listed below:

1. October 1, 2025–November 12 (43 full days); Donald Trump
2. December 22, 2018–January 25, 2019 (34 full days); Donald Trump
3. December 16, 1995–January 6, 1996 (21 full days); Bill Clinton
4. October 1–18, 1978 (17 full days); Jimmy Carter
5. October 1–17, 2013 (16 full days); Barack Obama
6. October 1–13, 1977 (12 full days); Jimmy Carter
7. October 1–12, 1979 (11 full days); Jimmy Carter
8. October 1–11, 1976 (10 full days); Gerald Ford
9. November 1–9, 1977 (8 full days); Jimmy Carter
10. December 1–9, 1977 (8 full days); Jimmy Carter
11. November 14–19, 1995 (5 full days); Bill Clinton