The U.S. federal government shut down on October 1, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT due to a failure by Congress to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year. The shutdown resulted from partisan disagreements over federal spending levels, foreign aid cuts, and health insurance subsidies. Despite Republicans having a majority, they could not overcome a Senate filibuster requiring 60 votes to pass the spending bills, and Democrats opposed the Republican proposal because it included reductions in Medicaid and cuts to health insurance subsidies. Negotiations between President Donald Trump, Senate Democrats, and Republicans stalled, leading to the first government shutdown since 2018–2019. Essential services continue operating, but many agencies face partial or full suspensions, and around 900,000 federal employees were furloughed with another 700,000 working without pay.
