The United States federal government officially entered a shutdown on tuesday, october 1, after a deeply divided Congress failed to pass a funding bill, triggering the first such closure in nearly seven years and grinding many government functions to a halt.
The shutdown began at the start of the new fiscal year, with Democrats and Republicans deadlocked over key policy issues. A central point of contention is a Democratic push to extend federal healthcare subsidies, a measure that Republicans argue should be handled separately from the essential spending resolution needed to keep the government open. A final attempt to pass a funding measure in the Senate failed to secure the necessary support, plunging the government into uncertainty.
The economic and human costs are expected to be substantial. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the shutdown could furlough up to 750,000 non-essential federal employees per day. The estimated cost in lost compensation for these workers is approximately $400 million daily, threatening to strain local economies and dampen consumer spending as paychecks are delayed.
Compounding the crisis is a significant loss of institutional knowledge, as a reported 154,000 civil servants resigned this week. This exodus marks the largest single-year departure in nearly 80 years and is expected to create a "brain drain" across numerous federal agencies.
The shutdown's impact will be felt immediately across the country:
* Air travel: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has furloughed approximately 11,000 employees, about a quarter of its workforce. While air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents will remain on the job, they will do so without pay, raising concerns about potential staffing shortages and flight delays.
* Public health: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has furloughed 41% of its staff, or around 32,460 employees. This has severely curtailed public health activities, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) furloughing 64% of its personnel and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) furloughing 75%, halting most new patient admissions and disrupting crucial research.
* Education: Already operating with a reduced staff, the Department of Education has furloughed an additional 87% of its workforce. While federal student aid payments will continue, other functions like civil rights investigations and the issuance of new federal education grants have ceased.
* Housing: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is set to expire, which will halt the issuance of new policies. This could disrupt home sales in flood-prone regions where such insurance is mandatory for government-backed mortgages.
This funding impasse occurs within the political context of ongoing budget disagreements between Congress and the Trump administration. Earlier this year, the administration enacted the Rescissions Act of 2025, which cut $7.9 billion from international assistance programs and $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
As non-essential services cease and federal workers face a period without pay, leaders in Congress and the White House are continuing negotiations. However, with both sides firmly entrenched in their positions, there is currently no clear timeline for when a resolution might be reached and the government will fully reopen.