Did the US government shut down? Everything we know about what it means and who is affected

A shutdown of the US federal government is underway due to the inability of Trump's Republican Party and the Democrats to agree on a spending bill to fund government services.

This marks the first government shutdown in seven years, and the issue of contention in this case is healthcare spending.

After Republicans refused to attach an extension of health benefits for millions of Americans that are due to expire at the end of the year, Senate Democrats responded by blocking a stopgap measure to fund the government up to November 21, as per Reuters.

As both sides point fingers at one another, and with the 2026 midterm elections on the horizon, both Republicans and Democrats hope their party will win control of Congress.

But what is the impact of a government shutdown?

Here is what you need to know:

What is a government shutdown?

The U.S. Capitol Visitors Center is closed to visitors during the federal government shut down on October 01, 2025 in Washington, DC. The government shut down early Wednesday after Congress failed to reach a funding dealPhoto by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A government shutdown occurs when funding for federal agencies cannot be approved by Congress due to partisan disagreements, which then prevents the president from signing off on budget legislation for the upcoming fiscal year.

(Like in this case, Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on healthcare spending).

Consequently, this means that non-essential functions of government are frozen, and those who are employed in this sector can't go to work and are not paid.

Who will be affected?

Susanne Brown, from Bellingham, Washington, looks at the sign that reads, ' This Facility is Closed Due to the Federal Government Shutdown', on the door to the Everglades National Park visitors center on October 01, 2025, in Everglades National Park, Florida.Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Federal employees will be most affected by this, as they will not receive pay for the duration of the government shutdown.

According to CBS, the five government departments with the most furloughed staff include: Department of Defense (civilian staff): 334,904 furloughed, 406,573 retained, Department of Health: 32,460 furloughed, 47,257 retained, Department of Commerce: 34,711 furloughed, 8,273 retained, Department of State: 16,651 furloughed, 10,344 retained, and NASA: 15,094 furloughed, 3,124 retained.

Meanwhile, travellers who are flying in the US could also experience longer queues and delays, as air traffic controllers will be unpaid at this time.

Workers who are deemed "essential" during government shutdowns include law enforcement, ICE agents (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), in-hospital medical care, air-traffic control, and Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) workers.

However, they won't be paid until the shutdown ends, and during the previous shutdown, essential workers ended up calling in sick, causing country-wide delays.

What has Trump said?

Ahead of the shutdown, Trump issued a warning to Democrats that he could make "irreversible" cuts to health care and social benefit programs.

“They’re taking a risk by having a shutdown. We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible,” Trump said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

“Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”

When was the last government shutdown?

The last time there was a government shutdown was during Trump's first term in office back in December 2018.

In total, it was the longest shutdown in history, lasting 35 days.

This resulted in 340,000 of 800,000 federal workers being furloughed, with some of them having to turn to food banks, and were unable to afford childcare.

When will this shutdown end?

We don't know when the shutdown will end, but if we look at the last time this happened, it lasted just over a month.

But that ended up being the longest shutdown in history, so it might be shorter than that; it all depends.

There are two possible scenarios that could resolve this - either Republicans negotiating an extension to the healthcare subsidies as requested by the Democrats, or the Democrats end up conceding to the pressure and chaos the shutdown is causing and agree to getting the federal government running again.

Elsewhere from indy100, JD Vance blames Biden for potential government shutdown, and Gavin Newsom explains who's to blame for potential government shutdown in just 10 words.

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