why are we in a government shutdown

The U.S. government is in a shutdown as of October 1, 2025, because Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation to fund the federal government for the new fiscal year starting that day. The main cause of the deadlock is a partisan disagreement between President Donald Trump's Republican Party and the Democrats. Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, lack the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster and pass their spending bill. Democrats oppose the Republican bill chiefly because it does not maintain enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies and includes cuts to Medicaid and public health programs, which they say would hurt Americans' access to healthcare. This budget impasse means that without an approved spending bill, much of the federal government must cease operations, furloughing nearly 900,000 federal employees and leaving about 700,000 working without pay. Essential services related to life and property, such as Medicare, Medicaid, border security, law enforcement, and air traffic control, continue to operate, but many others face suspension or reduction. President Trump’s administration has signaled it might use the shutdown to identify "non-essential" government positions possibly for permanent cuts. Both parties have blamed each other for the shutdown, reflecting the tense political environment surrounding the ongoing budget stalemate. Overall, the shutdown is a result of a failure to agree on short-term funding measures amid deep disagreements over health insurance subsidies and government spending levels, making it the 21st such shutdown in recent U.S. history and the third during the Trump presidency.