The U.S. federal government officially entered a partial shutdown at midnight on Wednesday, the first such impasse in six years, after Republicans and Democrats failed to strike a deal on a stopgap spending measure to keep operations running. The deadlock leaves hundreds of thousands of federal workers in limbo and raises the specter of wide-ranging disruptions across the country.
The immediate trigger came Tuesday night, when a Republican-backed House bill to extend government funding for seven weeks failed to advance in the Senate. Democrats argued the proposal lacked protections for critical programs, while Republicans accused their rivals of holding federal operations hostage with unrelated demands. The breakdown marks an early flashpoint in the 2025 fiscal year and echoes the prolonged shutdown battles of 2018–2019.
As of 12:01 a.m. ET, non-essential federal operations in agencies such as Education, Interior, and Housing and Urban Development ground to a halt. Roughly 800,000 federal employees are expected to be furloughed without pay, while others deemed essential must continue working without immediate compensation, pending retroactive pay once funding is restored.
Some core services remain intact. Social Security and Medicare payments are unaffected, air travel overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration continues, and national security functions like military operations remain active. But ripple effects are already being felt. National parks may close to the public, passport and visa processing could slow, and research initiatives at the National Institutes of Health face suspension. Economists warn that if the shutdown drags on, the U.S. economy could lose billions in productivity and consumer confidence.
The White House has leaned into the political optics, launching a public “Government Shutdown Clock” that blames Democrats for the stalemate. “This is a preventable disaster,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer countered, while House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted Republicans would continue to pursue a funding deal without what he described as “poison pill” amendments.
For now, millions of Americans and federal employees are caught in the crossfire of Washington’s partisan battles. The length of the shutdown—and its ultimate cost—will depend on how quickly lawmakers can bridge their divisions.
