On Oct. 1, 2025, the government shut down. No final federal spending budget was approved, leading to numerous government agencies being left with funds but without the approval to spend them.
The duration of the shutdown, 43 days, named it the longest government shutdown in American history. After those 43 days, on Nov. 12, 2025, a Continuing Resolution bill was signed into law by President Trump. The bill stated that the government now has until Jan. 30, 2026, to create a final federal budget for the 2026 fiscal year. It also provides back pay to all federal employees who were required to work without pay during the shutdown. For most federal agencies, the bill provides temporary approval of funds (appropriations) until the January 30 date. For some agencies, it gave appropriations for the entire fiscal year of 2026. These funds help fix the lapse in funds that was caused by the shutdown and that impacted countless agencies and communities.
Although recent shutdowns, especially this latest one, impacted many government agencies and people, government shutdowns haven’t always been this way. According to the House of Representatives Office of the Historian, the large-scale impact of government shutdowns began in the 1980s. Before then, when a federal budget was not passed, government agencies still operated as normal.
This changed when the United States Attorney General at the time, Benjamin Civiletti, wrote a series of legal opinions regarding the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits government agencies from spending money when they have not been authorized to in the federal budget. Civiletti argued that when there is no budget, there is no authorization, and he called for agencies to either impose a stricter interpretation of the act or to possibly be prosecuted. As a result of the new interpretation, agencies are forced to temporarily lay off (or furlough) workers who are not deemed “essential.” Workers deemed essential include military and law enforcement personnel, who are required to continue working during the event of a government shutdown.
While the government is closed, these essential workers are left without pay but are guaranteed to get it back when the government reopens.
Part of the reason that a federal funding bill may not be approved by the October 1 deadline is the long process it takes to sign funding bills into law. Before the president signs the bill, it must first pass through the Committee of Appropriations in the House of Representatives. All federal funding bills go through the appropriations process, as required by the Constitution. The process involves 12 subcommittees that each produce bills for different departments of the government. Congress conducts the process every year for the next fiscal year. If the budget cannot be agreed upon and passed through the House, Senate and signed by the president by October 1, a government shutdown occurs.
In the case of a government shutdown, Congress can pass a Continuing Resolution. A continuing resolution can be carried out in different ways. One type of resolution is the Clean Resolution, in which only temporary funding is provided before regular appropriations bills are passed. Another type of resolution can include a mixture of temporary funding for certain agencies, as well as funding for the entire fiscal year for others. This was the type that was passed to end the recent shutdown.
The Environmental Protection Agency: According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the agency “halt[ed] the approval of state air and water cleanup plans, new permit issuances, most enforcement inspections and scientific publications.” Most staff were furloughed; those who were deemed essential continued to work on actions “necessary to protect life and property” such as emergency response programs, law enforcement, maintaining lab facilities and court activities. The agency has operated regularly after the government reopened.
The Department of Health and Human Services: Multiple programs were directly affected by the shutdown, such as Early Head Start programs and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Funding for the Head Start programs–programs that support the mental, social and emotional development of young children from prenatal to age three–lapsed in November. The lapse in funding forced some centers that ran the program to close. Centers have now begun reopening after the shutdown has ended, some struggling to do so more than others. During the shutdown, LIHEAP, which provides funds for six million low-income families’ heat and cooling, did not receive funds. According to AP News, 68 percent of LIHEAP households also rely on SNAP benefits, which also experienced a lapse in funding. Additionally, $3.6 billion was released to help resume LIHEAP’s operations.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation: The two departments both experienced difficulties relating to air travel. For the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was affected. Despite a lack of pay, 95 percent of TSA employees continued working during the shutdown. The agencies part of the Department of Transportation most affected by the shutdown were the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Essential Air Service.
The FAA was forced to furlough many employees, worsening staffing shortages and leaving more for the workers deemed “essential” to do. To combat this, they reduced the number of flights by 10 percent in areas of high traffic.
The Essential Air Service, which, according to the NCSL, “subsidizes airline services in small and rural communities, largely in Alaska and Montana,” faced a lapse in funding but was able to continue operating because of an additional $111 million allocated to them by the Department of Transportation. All three programs—the TSA, FAA and Essential Air Service—are now operating normally.
Department of the Interior: National parks were affected by the shutdown; national parks remained partially open, but buildings that were staffed were closed. Sites that required human-led operations, such as the Washington Monument, were closed. Now, all parks are fully staffed and operational.
Department of the Treasury: The Treasury only partially continued operations during the shutdown. According to the NCSL, they “cease[ed] routine oversight of international engagement, domestic finance and economic policy, while preserving support to the president and his constitutional authorities.” They also continued to work on “critical infrastructure protection, the Treasury’s financing schedule, and other government financial obligations.” More specifically, two services heavily impacted were the Bureau of Fiscal Service and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Accounting and reports from the Bureau were affected, leading to delays in the release of public data. IRS employees received a memo that all workers except those already exempted previously would be furloughed, causing delays in services. Currently, all services are operating regularly. 
When the shutdown began, a lapse in funding had not yet occurred within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), although one was predicted to occur. The Department of Agriculture projected that a lapse would occur on November first. In foresight of this, on October 10, they directed states to stop issuing benefits for November.
The department had a partial funding plan (contingency plan), but argued that it would only be applicable in the event of a natural disaster; they argued that the plan did not apply to the lapse in funding caused by the shutdown. The department stated: “SNAP contingency funds are only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits. The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists.” They continued to explain further what the contingency funds could be used for: “the contingency fund is a source of funds for contingencies, such as the Disaster SNAP program, which provides food purchasing benefits for individuals in disaster areas, including natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.”
Cases were brought up against the department after they did not release the contingency funds. Two courts, one in Rhode Island and another in Massachusetts, ruled that the Department of Agriculture was acting unlawfully by not releasing the funds, stopping November SNAP benefits from being restored by using other funds. As a result, the department issued partial payments, still without using other funds, so the benefits were reduced and delayed. They advised states on November fifth to fund SNAP benefits partially, 65 percent of what would be full benefits. They advised states to do this while they were “completing the steps necessary to make full funding available for November issuances.”
On November 6, Judge John McConnell Jr., U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, ruled that the department had violated his previous order requiring the SNAP benefits to be paid quickly and in full. Responding to this, according to the NCSL, “The Justice Department immediately appealed both rulings and sought an emergency stay, which the Supreme Court granted on Nov. 7.” This emergency appeal ruled that full November SNAP benefits did not need to be paid by November 7.
Currently, with the reopening of the government, payments have been resumed. Due to differences in how some states process and fulfill SNAP benefits, some payments have been delayed or partial.
