how long has the government been shut down

The U.S. federal government shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. EDT on October 1, 2025. As of now, it has been shut down for about one day. This shutdown came as a result of Congress failing to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year due to partisan disagreements over spending levels and policy issues. It is the first government shutdown since the 2018-2019 shutdown, which was the longest in U.S. history, lasting 35 days. This 2025 shutdown has furloughed around 900,000 federal employees and left another 700,000 working without pay, with many agencies partially or fully ceased operations except essential services like Medicare and TSA.