The 2025 United States Government Shutdown

By: Matylda Marcinkiewicz, Class IV, and Emma Chung, Class IV

Photo credit: Pixabay

Background Knowledge 

Being the longest one ever in the United States, the most recent government shutdown lasted 43 days, starting on October 1st, 2025 and ending on November 12th, 2025. Every year, congress must pass 12 appropriation bills, which are bills that allow agencies and programs to spend federal funding, and if they are unable to pass them by the deadline of September 30th of the current fiscal year, a shutdown occurs. Previously, shutdowns have happened due to general disagreement concerning budgeting, but this most recent one was different.

According to an article by FactCheck.org, in this particular shutdown, the Democratic party resisted passing the federal budget in order to get the Republican party to agree to extend expiring tax credits that make the cost of healthcare cheaper for millions of Americans. 

While the political parties did come to a temporary agreement ending the shutdown, they will hold a separate vote by mid-December on extending the healthcare subsidies. PBS News explains that they agreed on passing a temporary funding bill that reopened the federal government. This bill included funding for essential government services and pay for federal workers. 

Government Workers

During a shutdown, federal employees can be paid through alternative means, suspended from work (furloughed), fired, or expected to come to work without pay (expected employees). The financial impact on workers varies, but those who live paycheck to paycheck or work in entry level positions are hit the hardest. 

An employee that works for the IRS, while wishing to remain anonymous due to privacy reasons has explained that, “I have savings that helped me get through the government shutdown. But I do know a coworker that ended up borrowing against his credit card to pay bills during the shutdown.” 

This is the duality of the situation, highlighting the different impacts the shutdown had on different financial situations. For people like the IRS employee we interviewed, their personal savings acted as a safety net. However for others, having little or no savings meant relying on loans and or credit cards to endure the shutdown. 

Snap benefits 

During the government shutdown, Trump’s administration decided to stop the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as SNAP. Regularly, it provides food benefits to those of low incomes. These families receive money monthly from the program to feed themselves, and without the helping hand SNAP gave them, virtually 42 million people were negatively impacted. As stated by WNYC News, the removal of SNAP payments “pushed SNAP recipients to skip meals or stop paying other bills to afford to eat.” 

Federal services

Medicare, a federal program that provides free and/or affordable healthcare, was negatively affected by the shutdown, with several important services like telehealth claim payments being paused and delays in processing due to CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) suspending most Medicare activities. This left many people uncertain about the future of their healthcare plans, and trying to deal with paperwork caused by the delays.

During the government shutdown, the U.S. air travel system faced severe problems. Federal workers in airports were required to work, keeping the faculties running. Transportation Security Administration, or TSA workers are one example, as they were required to be at work while remaining unpaid. Many federal airport workers called out sick to avoid working without pay, so the reduced amount of work in the airports had to be adjusted to. Cancellations were arranged in order to accommodate the lessened workforce in the airports, especially over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. There were over 10,000 delays and 2,900 flights were cancelled. They were justified as “necessary” to maintain the safety of the airport, but passengers were more than enraged by the long lines, long waits, and uncertainties caused by the delays.

Future

The government shutdown ended on November 12, 2025, with a continuing resolution bill being signed by President Trump. For the majority of agencies, funding will only be provided until January 30th, meaning that the United States faces another potential shutdown in the coming months. The healthcare bill remains a problem, and there is still a dispute over the funding and its reform goals. According to ctmirror.org, "negotiations were underway before the holiday break and will ramp back up” as this deadline approaches. If they cannot come upon an agreement, it is a possibility that a continuing resolution will be used to keep the funding afloat.