Many services grind to a halt as federal government shuts down

Updated October 1, 2025 at 3:22 PM EDT

A Senate vote to reopen the government failed on Wednesday, hours after many federal agencies ceased operations and a stand off over government funding on Capitol Hill showed little movement towards a resolution.

The Republican-controlled House passed a bill earlier this month that would keep the government funded at the current levels through Nov. 21. Senate Democrats refused to support that bill in an effort to force Republicans to negotiate on Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans also control the Senate but need support from Democrats to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

Democrats introduced their own short-term measure in the Senate to fund the government through the end of October and extend those expiring health care subsidies. Republicans blocked that measure. Both failed largely along party lines on Tuesday night as well as again midday on Wednesday, when they were put back up for a vote.

It is unclear how far-reaching the impact of a shutdown will be or how long the suspensions of funding will last. Critical services, including Social Security, VA benefits and Medicare and Medicaid payments, will continue, but people who need those resources could face delays.

Federal jobs labeled as nonessential will experience more direct impacts, meaning there could be slowdowns in some government services and many federal employees will be left unpaid.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates about 750,000 federal employees may be furloughed daily.

Following the third failed attempt to pass the spending bill, Senate leaders have yet to announce another vote. Congress will be out Thursday in observation of Yom Kippur.

President Trump has also indicated he may take additional action to reshape the government. On Tuesday afternoon, he alluded to possibly carrying out mass firings of federal workers and eliminating programs in the event of a shutdown.

"We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. "We can cut large numbers of people. We don't want to do that, but we don't want fraud, waste and abuse."

It's unclear to what extent the administration may take unprecedented steps to target programs supported by Democrats. However, on Wednesday morning, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought publicly announced cuts in New York City, where both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reside, writing on X that the Department of Transportation had paused nearly $18 billion in funds for the construction of the Hudson Tunnel and the 2nd Avenue Subway line, "to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles."

In a separate statement, the DOT said it plans to evaluate both projects for "unconstitutional practices" and won't process federal payments until the review is finished.

"Thanks to the Chuck Schumer and Hakeem [Jeffries] shutdown, however, USDOT's review of New York's unconstitutional practices will take more time," the statement said. "Without a budget, the Department has been forced to furlough the civil rights staff responsible for conducting this review."

In a response posted on X, Jeffries pushed back on Vought's decision, characterizing the move as "baseless threats."

"Russ [Vought,] you are the poster child for privilege and mediocrity," he said. "Get lost."

Schumer also responded, saying Vought "is using New Yorkers and New Jerseyites as pawns." Schumer pointed out that the transportation projects are used by working families in both states to commute.

Some impacts will be immediate, while others will only kick in if a shutdown drags on.

• Hundreds of thousands of federal workers and active-duty service members may miss paychecks starting in mid-October.

• Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration employees are considered essential employees, but some have called out sick during past shutdowns when they were asked to work without pay.

• The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children commonly known as WIC may soon run out of money. 

• Some National Parks will remain open, others will be shuttered but the full list is not currently available.
  

Shutdown Day 1: Finger pointing and tentative talks

Lawmakers ratcheted up the public finger-pointing Wednesday as the first impacts of the shutdown began to take effect.

Republicans have accused Democrats of taking the federal budget hostage to advance their policy goals. Speaking from the Capitol Wednesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., highlighted some of the effects of the shutdown on the federal workforce.

"As we speak here this morning, there are hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are getting their furlough notices," Johnson said. "Our troops and our border patrol agents will have to go to work, but they'll be working without pay. Food assistance, veterans benefits and vital support for women and children are all coming to a halt."

Democrats continue to argue that they are fighting to protect Americans' health care, as they push to extend the insurance subsidies and also attempt to repeal cuts to health care programs that were enacted by the GOP's tax and spending bill passed earlier this summer.

But some Senators indicated that some bipartisan talks were happening around the chamber and that they were focused on addressing the issue of extending the health care subsidies. One GOP Senator involved in those talks, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. noted that there wouldn't be any movement on new legislation dealing with health care issues unless enough Democrats helped reopen the government.

How long will the shutdown last?

Republican leaders say they plan to continue holding votes on their stopgap funding measure, hoping they can peel off more Democrats to join them as a shutdown wears on.

"When we had a vote on our proposal to keep the government open right before the recess, we had one Democrat vote," Republican Whip John Barrasso said Tuesday night. "Tonight, we had three. So the cracks are beginning to show."

Two Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and one independent, Angus King of Maine — who caucuses with Democrats — voted for the Republican bill on Tuesday.

"We need a bipartisan solution to address this impending health care crisis, but we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another," Cortez Masto said.

But six Democrats who voted yes on the continuing resolution when it first came for a vote in March declined to support the measure this time around. And like Thune, Schumer also said he believes some members on the other side may eventually find their position untenable.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the lone Republican to oppose the measure Tuesday.

The last government shutdown, from December 2018 to January 2019, lasted 35 days and was the longest in U.S. history.

With Republicans and Democrats both signaling they are unwilling to budge, there is no clarity about the path out of the shutdown — or how long it will last.

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