Since Oct. 1, 2025, the US government is experiencing a shutdown, which means that multiple government activities are now disrupted and unfunded.
A government shutdown happens when the president or Congress fails to fund federal government operations by the end of the fiscal year, the year the government pays its workers, which is Sept. 30.
The cause of this shutdown was a dispute between Democrats and Republicans and their conflicting funding proposals. Democrats wanted to negate Medicare cuts and fund the Affordable Care Act, while Republicans did not. Since then, multiple attempts to end the shutdown have failed.
The last shutdown, in 2018, was the longest the US has seen. It was caused by Donald Trump and the 115th Congress’ inability to agree on an appropriations bill for the fiscal year in 2019, leaving the government unfunded for 34 days.
The effects are concerning. In the past, the Food and Drug Administration ceased routine inspections and many government jobs continued without pay, causing people to not come to work and leading to longer wait times. Transportation Security Administration workers have also not attended work in the past. The court canceled more than 86,000 immigration court hearings in 2019. The Environmental Protection Agency will stop inspecting water and hazards for dangerous chemicals. The Library of Congress said libraries will close.
The Republican-led state.gov website blames Democrats as a whole, writing, “Due to the Democrat-led shutdown, website updates will be limited until operations resume.”
Both Democratic and Republican government officials are openly sharing their disdain for each other. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says, “We want to sit down and negotiate, but the Republicans can’t do it in their partisan way, where they just say it’s our way or the highway.” Another Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin says, “[this shutdown is] the clearest sign yet that Republicans are inept, incompetent, and lack any respect for the American people.”
Republican Spokesperson Sonali Patal said, “[Democrats] caved to the far-left, played partisan politics and forced this shutdown.” Republican Joe Gruters holds the same beliefs, saying, “Democrats are holding up critical funding for our veterans, seniors, law enforcement and working families because they want to pass a far-left wish list costing more than $1 trillion.”
There has been a trend of government shutdowns lasting longer and longer. Most shutdowns have been under a week long, ranging from 1-3 days. The website Polymarket predicts the shutdown will last two weeks or more.
