what happened to the government shutdown

The US federal government officially shut down at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2025, due to a failure in Congress to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year. Both Democratic and Republican proposals to fund the government failed in the Senate, primarily over disputes related to healthcare subsidies, Medicaid cuts, and federal spending levels. This shutdown is the 21st funding gap in modern US history and the third during the presidency of Donald Trump. During the shutdown, roughly 900,000 federal employees were furloughed, and another 700,000 continued working without pay. Essential services such as Medicare, Medicaid, air traffic control, and veteran services mostly continued, while many agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, faced partial or full suspensions. Key programs like Social Security payments and the US Postal Service operations were maintained, but non-essential government functions were frozen until a funding deal is reached. Negotiations between congressional leaders and President Trump failed to produce an agreement before the shutdown, with ongoing partisan disagreements cited as the cause. The government will remain in shutdown status until lawmakers resolve these differences and pass the necessary funding legislation to reopen federal operations fully.