The U.S. federal government is once again on the brink of a "shutdown" (temporary halt of operations). Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump met with leaders of both parties to forge a deal on the federal budget, but gained little. If Congress fails to pass the budget by 12:01 a.m. on the 30th (local time), federal agencies will enter a partial closure.
According to Bloomberg News, the shutdown crisis appears to be becoming routine in Washington. In Mar., Congress also came to the brink of a shutdown after both parties kept spinning their wheels over a stopgap spending bill, but a last-minute deal averted the crisis. At the time, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of the Democratic Party dramatically accepted the Republican plan.
The U.S. government operates each year on 12 spending bills. Each bill must pass the Senate and the House, and takes effect when the president signs it. If the 12 bills fail to pass by Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, Congress draws up a short-term expenditure bill (Continuing Resolution, CR) spanning weeks or months to keep the government running, but because both parties must agree on the plan, the process is far from smooth.
For the 2025 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2024–Sep. 30, 2025), three CRs passed through Mar., but none of the 12 full-year bills were enacted. In effect, the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and President Trump have never reached agreement on the budget.
Because of partisan disagreement over the budget, the U.S. government has undergone 14 shutdowns since 1981, and if a CR fails to pass this time, another shutdown is expected for the first time in seven years. Historically, shutdowns have lasted from at least one day to as long as 35 days, with the longest running from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019, during the first Trump administration.
At the time, the Trump administration reportedly exercised a veto on the grounds that funding to build a wall on the border with Mexico was insufficient. As parts of the government were paralyzed, major agencies such as ▲ the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ▲ the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ▲ the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) suffered disruptions in enforcement and investigative activities, and 60,000 immigration adjudications were canceled at the Department of Justice. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the economic damage from that shutdown amounted to $3 billion (about 4.2 trillion won), equivalent to 0.02% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Once a shutdown begins, the government halts many functions except core tasks such as law enforcement and public safety, and personnel assigned to critical roles continue working without pay. ▲ National park closures ▲ delays in issuing passports and visas ▲ postponement of economic data releases are representative examples of services halted by a shutdown. However, ▲ military operations ▲ air traffic control ▲ veterans' medical care ▲ federal criminal investigations continue as exceptions during a shutdown.
A shutdown can also hit the private sector. For example, corporations that rely on federal contracts—from large defense and space corporations to building cleaning contractors—can incur losses during this period, as historically contract workers have not been made whole for pay during shutdowns. Mandatory spending programs such as pensions and Medicare, the health insurance program for seniors, are generally understood to be unaffected, but possibilities such as new enrollments or payment suspensions exist.
Meanwhile, the biggest sticking point in the current talks is reportedly the issue of extending subsidies known as "Obamacare" (ACA, Affordable Care Act). These subsidies are set to expire at the end of this year, and the Democratic Party argues they should be made permanent while reversing cuts to the Medicare budget. President Trump and the Republican Party, on the other hand, strongly oppose the Democrats' position and plan to again push for a seven-week CR (through Nov. 21) that excludes ACA subsidies.