WASHINGTON — The federal government entered a partial shutdown just after midnight Wednesday, the first since 2018–19, after last-ditch efforts between the White House and congressional leaders collapsed. By dawn, agencies had begun powering down non-essential operations, hundreds of thousands of civil servants were receiving furlough notices, and Americans were asking what would — and would not — continue to function while Washington’s spending stalemate drags on. In the hours before the deadline, the capital was consumed by eleventh-hour brinkmanship around funding votes, a familiar Washington ritual with unfamiliar stakes.
The immediate fallout is uneven. Social Security checks will still go out, Medicare and Medicaid will keep paying claims, and law enforcement and the military remain on duty. But a wide array of civilian services — from routine food-safety inspections to museum openings, scientific grants and some small-business lending — are slowing or halting as agencies trigger contingency plans for a “lapse in appropriations.” In the last year, TEH chronicled how warnings that a lapse would ripple through parks and border operations were largely brushed aside in favor of short-term fixes.
At the center of the impasse is a familiar fight over both money and priorities. Republicans who control Congress pushed a stopgap spending bill that locked in lower discretionary levels and omitted Democrats’ demand to extend expiring health-insurance subsidies. Democrats blocked the measure and backed their own temporary plan that Republicans rejected, leaving no path forward before the fiscal year flipped at midnight. The White House, meanwhile, has signaled it intends to keep immigration enforcement and trade functions insulated from the worst effects — a stance that sharpened partisan lines and echoed summer’s spending pivot that sharpened today’s positions.
What shuts down — and what does not
Shutdowns do not shutter the entire government. By law, programs funded outside the annual appropriations process keep running, as do activities necessary to protect life and property. That means Transportation Security Administration screeners, Border Patrol agents, air traffic controllers, Customs officers and active-duty service members remain at their posts — though many will work without pay until Congress passes a funding bill and the president signs it.
Travelers should prepare for strain. With training paused and overtime constrained, even small staffing gaps at the Federal Aviation Administration and TSA can cascade into delays and cancellations during peak periods. The FAA maintains public statements about continuity during lapses and irregular operations; its hub outlines examples of contingency operations that kick in to maintain safety and flow when systems are stressed.
At national parks and public lands, the policy is tighter than in some previous shutdowns: open-air spaces may remain accessible, but staffed facilities — visitor centers, campgrounds, some roads — close, and most National Park Service employees are furloughed. The NPS summarizes procedures for operations in the absence of appropriations, while individual park notices — like Golden Gate’s real-time bulletin on which areas are locked and which remain open — have begun to populate. Conservation advocates argue that leaving parks half-open invites damage and safety risks; the National Parks Conservation Association has urged closures, warning that parks left accessible without staffing are vulnerable to vandalism and accidents.
Elsewhere, agencies from the National Science Foundation to the Environmental Protection Agency are suspending or curtailing grants, inspections and routine oversight. Certain independent regulators that draw funding outside the appropriations process, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will keep operating, though some have tightened belts under separate restrictions.
Federal workers feel it first
The largest and most immediate impact hits the federal workforce. Under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, furloughed staff and “excepted” employees who work without pay are guaranteed back pay once funding is restored. The Office of Personnel Management has published an updated, detailed handbook — shutdown furloughs guidance for employees — that agencies are using to execute “orderly shutdown” procedures, generally allowing limited time on day one for staff to secure files, set out-of-office notices and turn in equipment if required.
OPM has also posted an overview landing page for orderly shutdown procedures and supplemental instructions for agency HR offices. For rank-and-file employees, the practical advice is unvarnished: check your agency contingency plan, conserve savings where possible, contact creditors proactively, and monitor OPM channels for pay-and-benefits updates.
How we got here
The shutdown follows weeks of stop-and-start talks and a flurry of late votes that failed to clear the Senate’s threshold. Republicans advanced a short-term bill to keep the government open with tighter spending caps; Democrats insisted on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies and reversing cuts to certain domestic programs. With both sides dug in — and with the White House taking a hard line on workforce and program priorities — the clock simply ran out. The dynamic reprises themes TEH tracked in earlier showdowns, including recurring stalemates that leave agencies scrambling and, more recently, post-summer positioning that boxed negotiators in.
Economy: Data dark and markets jumpy
Wall Street is bracing for a fog of uncertainty. A shutdown will halt the publication of several major economic reports, including some labor statistics that investors, employers and the Federal Reserve rely on to read the economy. Private-sector snapshots will still land, but without the federal series, “macro visibility” dims — a gap that tends to increase market volatility. Early in the week, markets wobbled as investors weighed the risk of delayed data and a slower fourth quarter; Reuters recapped markets’ initial reaction and the growing likelihood of a lapse. The Congressional Budget Office keeps an up-to-date digest of estimates on how shutdowns affect output and pay, a reminder that the longer the stoppage, the larger the drag — and the harder the snap-back once funding returns.
Travel, schools, benefits: What Americans should expect
Air travel: Flights continue, but passengers should build in extra time. Hiring and training backlogs at FAA complicate recovery from irregular operations; even routine weather can trigger longer queues when staffing is thin. See FAA’s public statements for how airport operators manage constraints during stress events and lapses.
Health care and benefits: Medicare and Medicaid payments continue. The Social Security Administration maintains a detailed playbook for operations during a lapse; see Social Security’s shutdown contingency plan and, for local office alerts and appointment practices, office status and emergencies. Claims processing and card services continue, though delays are likely.
Students and families: Federal student loan servicing persists but with slower customer support as Education Department staffing shifts to excepted functions. FAFSA processing continues, but borrowers should expect longer waits and lean on online portals when possible; the Associated Press has summarized how shutdown aversion and stopgaps affected education operations earlier this year.
Museums and culture: Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery typically close during shutdowns absent special arrangements; local governments and nonprofits sometimes step in with temporary support, but not at scale. (Agency decisions can vary by day as cash balances ebb.)
Inside the agencies: The memo that flipped the switch
Hours before the deadline, the Office of Management and Budget issued Memorandum M-25-35 instructing departments to execute plans for an orderly shutdown, including guidance for employees to report for shutdown tasks and for agencies to communicate clearly about which functions continue. For archival and context, OMB’s index lists the shutdown directive alongside other current-year memoranda.
At the National Park Service, that translated to locking visitor facilities, maintaining law enforcement and emergency operations, and halting volunteer programs where oversight is unavailable. At science agencies, non-exempt research pauses; grant deadlines slide. At regulatory bodies, inspectors are pared to core safety roles. A patchwork persists across government, but the patchwork is smaller than in 2018–19 as legal opinions narrowed the use of fee revenue to keep parks open — even as some reporting suggests limited operations might continue at certain fee-collecting sites. (For a snapshot of the debate, see coverage noting that some parks may remain superficially open with reduced staffing and the NPCA’s warning that the approach courts damage.)
How long could it last?
There is no automatic end date. Congress could pass a clean short-term spending bill — a continuing resolution — within days. Or both sides could decide that pressure helps their leverage, allowing the shutdown to stretch and forcing agencies to do more with less, longer. Political incentives cut both ways: Republicans want to demonstrate spending restraint and follow through on campaign promises; Democrats have picked health subsidies and domestic programs as the hill they will defend. The White House has framed the episode as a test of priorities — immigration enforcement and trade protections on one side, health and social spending on the other.
Past showdowns show that real-world pain, not abstract politics, usually dictates the timeline. If airports grow congested, if parks stay shuttered during peak weekends, if contractors begin layoffs, pressure builds under both parties. The release of major federal data — like the monthly employment report — can also become a forcing mechanism; markets dislike uncertainty more than bad news.
What to do now
For federal employees: Follow your agency’s plan and complete only permitted shutdown tasks. Bookmark OPM’s pages for contingency procedures in a lapse and agency HR updates. Avoid any unauthorized work while furloughed.
For travelers: Check flight status early and often and expect longer security lines if staffing is stretched. Consider earlier departures for tight connections and follow airport advisories informed by FAA’s continuity statements.
For beneficiaries: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid continue; contact offices may have longer waits. Use online portals where possible — the SSA outlines local office service changes and alternatives to in-person visits.
For communities around parks and museums: Verify local closures before travel. Many concessionaires and small businesses depend on public-land traffic; a prolonged shutdown can ripple quickly through gateway towns. (Our earlier report on a statewide cyber incident showed how administrative shutdowns paralyze routine life, even when causes differ.)
The bottom line
The shutdown is both familiar and newly fraught. Familiar, because Americans have seen this play out before: a procedural dispute, a missed deadline, a scramble to mitigate damage. Newly fraught, because this time the administration has paired the usual contingency playbook with muscular rhetoric about permanent workforce cuts and a sharper delineation of protected priorities. The costs will start small — delayed data, closed gates, longer lines — and accumulate with each passing day. The cure remains maddeningly simple and politically difficult: a bill both chambers can pass and a president will sign. Until then, much of the government waits, and our continuing coverage of policy fights and appropriations showdowns will track the fallout for families, workers and the economy.
