Government Shutdowns: What Are They and What is the Status of the 2025 One?

By Tyler Horton ‘26

Introduction - What is a Government Shutdown?

Over the past several years, the concept of government shutdowns has become more mainstream in the news and political discussions as party polarization creates legislative obstacles. Government shutdowns occur when the United States Congress fails to pass a bill outlining the federal government's spending for the upcoming fiscal year, or when the President refuses to sign the bill after it is passed. During a government shutdown, federal agencies cannot spend funds since Congress has not approved a bill to regulate the federal budget, unless they are performing essential functions. These functions include active-duty military personnel, federal law enforcement agencies (Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, U.S. Postal Service, federal courts, and much more. 

There are a multitude of reasons as to why shutdowns happen. Among the most common reasons is political infighting and partisanship among members of Congress. Fiscal negotiations on Capitol Hill can be difficult for both sides of the aisle to find compromise and agreement. This is particularly true when polarization is strong for either or both parties, making it difficult for lawmakers to break from their party or find agreement with the opposition. Another reason shutdowns occur is if the federal government is divided. The term “Divided Government” refers to when one political party has control of the presidency and another political party controls one or both chambers of the United States Congress. Partisan disagreements become more difficult to resolve when the branches of government have competing agendas, increasing the risk of the government shutting down when gridlock is reached. 

The Executive Branch (the President of the United States) and the Judicial Branch (The Supreme Court of the United States) have no authority to initiate the end of a shutdown; that power resides in Congress. Shutdowns are resolved mostly through continuing resolutions or annual spending bills passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. These resolutions provide temporary funding for government operations while lawmakers debate and negotiate long-term solutions. After the resolution is passed, the bill, whether it is appropriations or a continuing resolution, is sent to the president’s desk to be signed into law. The president can have a great amount of influence on budgetary matters through their stances on policies and issues that members of Congress consider during their negotiations. The president can also initiate government shutdowns by vetoing spending bills and refusing to sign them. 

Who is Impacted by Shutdowns?

Regarding individuals who work for the government, non-essential federal employees are impacted the most, along with businesses that rely on services from the federal government. These employees are furloughed, a temporary cessation of paid employment, until the shutdown ends. They are classified as “expected” employees, and sometimes they are still required to work during the shutdown. On the other hand, essential employees continue to work since their funding is not determined by appropriations bills. One important thing to note is that members of Congress get paid during government shutdowns. The salaries of senators and representatives of the House are mandated by the United States Constitution; therefore, they are part of the government's mandatory spending, not impacted by annual appropriations bills. This is considered a controversy by the public, who believe that lawmakers should face the same financial consequences as the workers who face the difficult outcomes from Congress’s failure to pass a budget. 

The American public is greatly affected by the disruption of services impacted by government shutdowns, especially those with low incomes. An example of this is suspension and or delay of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. Low-income families, individuals with disabilities, and seniors rely on this program to provide them with groceries. If a government shutdown lasts longer than a month, then the SNAP benefits for the following month will be halted entirely, leaving millions of Americans without groceries. Another example of public impact is the delay of government applications and their approvals for various services. A lot of these include applications for federal housing loans, federal student loans, and energy assistance programs. The economic drawbacks can be grave for the American people, whose jobs are at risk and depend on government services, along with businesses that rely on government funds. The longer a government shutdown lasts, the economic consequences become more severe and impact economic activity due to the impacts on customer confidence.

History of Shutdowns

The current process for creating federal budgets was established in 1976, and since then, there have been eleven government shutdowns, including the 2025 one. Before 2025, the last government shutdown was in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. It was the longest government shutdown in United States History, lasting for 34 days from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019. From the 1990s to 2019, the shortest shutdown lasted three days, while the longest one lasted 21 days. During the 1990s, the shutdowns lasted only one to two days. The circumstances for each shutdown are different depending on the presidential administration, political parties in control of Congress, the economic state of the country, etc. In recent years, partisanship has played a big role in shutdowns and dragged them out for longer periods of time. 

The 2025 Shutdown

The fiscal year ended on September 30, 2025, and lawmakers in Congress failed to approve an appropriations bill to fund the government for another year. At 12:00 am on October 1, 2025, the federal government shut down after the Senate did not reach the minimum requirement of sixty senators to pass a temporary spending bill. Democrats in the Senate did not support a bill sponsored by Republicans that would have made additional cuts to the medical welfare system and let existing subsidies expire. There are forty-seven Democrats in the Senate and fifty-three Republican senators, making it difficult for the Republicans to get seven more votes. In a time of major partisanship in Congress, fiscal negotiations have been difficult for the Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate, to get Democrats on board. Both sides of the aisle seem reluctant to let the opposition include amendments or clauses in funding bills, and neither wants to bend. This makes it very difficult for a resolution to come to fruition. 

In recent news, a federal judge has ordered the Trump Administration to use contingency funds to pay for SNAP benefits, a day before food stamps were scheduled to lapse. SNAP benefits were mentioned earlier in the article and have remained a top concern for millions of Americans. John McConnell, a U.S. District Court Judge based in Rhode Island, ordered that the United States Department of Agriculture distribute the contingency funds to SNAP recipients after community organizations and cities sued the Trump Administration. Another federal judge, in a separate ruling before McConnell’s decision, said that it was unlawful for the Trump Administration not to pay out SNAP benefits in the midst of a government shutdown. This ruling can ease the minds of the Americans who depend on food stamps to survive and feed their families.

As of November 4, 2025 the government has been shut down for thirty-four days, on track to potentially become the longest shutdown in United States history. Americans are getting more and more concerned about the shutdown and the long-term effects it will have. Lawmakers in both Chambers of Congress have been continuing to have talks over the last several weeks, but there is no clear end or resolution in sight. Senators and House members are coming in and out of Washington, D.C., making it more difficult for progress to be made at a consistent pace. While there is a lot of infighting with both sides blaming each other, it is important to remember that shutdowns eventually come to an end, even if it is not in the foreseeable future. 

Tyler Horton is a senior majoring in political science.

Sources

Delaney, N. (2025). Explainer: Why Government Shutdowns Keep Happening in the United States. Harvard Kennedy School. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/democracy-governance/explainer-why-government-shutdowns-keep 

Everything You Need to Know About a Government Shutdown. (2025). USA Facts. https://usafacts.org/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-government-shutdown/ 

Grumbach, G., et al. (2025). Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Pay SNAP Benefits Out of Contingency Fund. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/federal-judge-orders-trump-administration-pay-snap-benefits-contingenc-rcna241187 

Plata-Nino, Gina. (2025). How Will a Government Shutdown Affect SNAP Benefits?. Food Research & Action Center. https://frac.org/blog/how-will-government-shutdown-affect-snap-benefits 

Wessel, D. (2025). What is a Government Shutdown?. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-is-a-government-shutdown-and-why-are-we-likely-to-have-another-one/

Zurcher, A. & Sherman, N. (2025). Why the U.S. Government Has Shut Down and What Happens Now. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrj1znp0pyo