what happened last government shutdown

The last U.S. government shutdown began on October 1, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT and is ongoing as of now. This shutdown occurred because neither the Republican nor Democratic funding bills managed to reach the necessary 60 votes in the Senate to pass. The shutdown has led to the closure of non- essential federal government services and furloughs of many federal workers. The deadlock revolves around disagreements on budget priorities, with Democrats pushing to protect healthcare and social programs while Republicans are focused on budget cuts. This shutdown is notable as it is the first since nearly seven years ago, with the previous longest shutdown lasting 35 days from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019. The 2025 shutdown has caused significant disruption to many federal agencies, including health and safety departments like the CDC, FDA, and NIH, which face furloughs of thousands of employees.