On Oct. 1, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT, the federal government officially shut down after Congress failed to agree on a funding bill for the 2026 fiscal year. The shutdown resulted from weeks of gridlock in Washington as lawmakers failed to resolve disputes on spending, health care and foreign aid. The standoff has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay, and many government services are grinding to a halt. This is the first shutdown since the 35-day closure in 2018–2019 and the third under President Donald Trump’s administration. Back then, roughly 800,000 federal employees went without paychecks including both furloughed employees and essential employees that worked through the shutdown. This time, nearly twice as many workers will go without pay, as over 800,000 workers have been furloughed, while another 700,000 are being forced to work without pay. Agencies are preparing for “Reduction in Force” plans as discussions about mass and permanent layoffs occur.

Republicans who currently control both the House and Senate are pushing for a “clean” continuing resolution, a temporary extension of current funding levels with no policy changes. Democrats, framing this as a fight for healthcare, say they won’t agree to a deal that ignores key priorities, including funding for health care subsidies and restoring Affordable Care Act programs. Democrats are also fighting to reverse Medicaid cuts tied to Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and to bring back funding for public media, which was slashed in a recent GOP-backed budget rollback. Late Tuesday, a Republican-authored short-term funding bill aimed at keeping the government running through November 21st, failed in the Senate. It earned 55 votes in favor but fell short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster. Until negotiations occur and Republicans change senate rules or revise the bill to include these revisions, it will be hard to reach an agreement. 

Tensions escalated further as the Trump administration faces a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The legal challenge, which also involves the advocacy groups Democracy Forward and the State Democracy Defenders Fund, comes in response to threats of mass layoffs made by former President Trump and his team during the ongoing shutdown. In public remarks, Trump appeared to frame the layoffs as a deliberate tactic, placing blame on Democrats for the situation. “Well, the Democrats want to shut it down. So, when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs. We’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected.” Trump also commented, “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them—like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.” While the Department of Education continues disbursing student aid like Pell Grants or federal direct loans, new grant making or new student aid program operations beyond the existing ones could be impacted or reduced, impacting the future of education. 

Each day the government remains closed, the economic consequences increase. A White House memo estimates that the U.S. economy could lose $15 billion in GDP per week during the shutdown. EY-Parthenon estimates $7 billion per week in losses. Additionally, taxpayers are estimated to lose around $400 million per day in lost wages and deferred services. All of this is negatively impacting people who overall did not want the shutdown in the first place. The public is showing overwhelming opposition to a shutdown overall; many see it as a failure of government. Polls indicate ~65% of registered voters oppose a government shutdown.

In response to the shutdown, some members of Congress are showing support for the people affected during this difficult time. Representative Henry Cuellar took to X, formerly known as Twitter on Oct. 1 to state, “Today, I signed a letter refusing my Congressional pay during the government shutdown. If more than 15,000 federal employees in #TX28 are going without a paycheck, then neither will I. I know their hardship, and I feel their pain.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a tour to Bronx and New York City students: “Tour guides are not in for duty today, but to everyone bused down, I mean, it’d be terrible to have all that there and everyone’s already here. So, I’m giving the tour.”