US government shuts down after Senate fails to pass spending bill

The United States authorities has partially unopen down aft last-ditch efforts by lawmakers to walk a spending measure failed.

Funding to support the national authorities moving expired astatine 00:01 EDT (04:01 GMT) connected Wednesday aft Democrats and Republicans successful the US Senate rejected rival stopgap proposals.

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While the US authorities has partially ceased operations much than a twelve times since 1980, President Donald Trump’s threats to usage the backing lapse to dramatically trim the size of the nationalist assemblage person raised the imaginable of greater disruption than successful past shutdowns.

Speaking to reporters astatine the White House connected Tuesday, Trump warned that helium could usage the shutdown to instrumentality actions that are “bad” for Democrats.

“We tin bash things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are atrocious for them and irreversible by them, similar cutting immense numbers of radical out, cutting things that they like, cutting programmes that they like,” Trump said, adding that “a batch of good” tin travel from authorities shutdowns.

US President Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of apical subject commanders astatine the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Quantico, Virginia, connected September 30, 2025 [Evan Vucci/AP]

The shutdown, the archetypal specified backing lapse since 2018, means that immoderate authorities services deemed to beryllium non-essential volition travel to a halt, including the work of cardinal economical information and indebtedness approvals for tiny businesses.

Essential workers, specified arsenic instrumentality enforcement officers, subject unit and aerial postulation controllers, volition stay connected the job, but volition spell without wage for the duration of the shutdown.

Social information and nutrient assistance volition proceed to beryllium paid out.

While hundreds of thousands of national employees were placed connected impermanent permission and received backmost wage upon returning to enactment during erstwhile shutdowns, Trump has threatened to usage the existent backing lapse to occurrence a “lot of people”.

“And they’re Democrats; they’re going to beryllium Democrats,” Trump said.

Richard Painter, the main White House morals lawyer nether erstwhile President George W Bush, called the threats “typical of President Trump’s strong-arm tactics”.

“He is threatening national workers with termination if determination is simply a shutdown,” Painter told Al Jazeera.

“Some of what helium is threatening, helium whitethorn beryllium capable to do, but overmuch of it is not authorised by Congress, including firing national workers with civilian work occupation protection.”

Wednesday’s shutdown comes aft weeks of bickering betwixt Democrats and Republicans implicit however to support the authorities open.

Democrats earlier this period rejected a Republican-drafted stopgap spending measure to support the authorities moving for 9 much weeks, arguing that the measurement should see provisions to grow healthcare coverage, including by reversing Medicaid cuts included successful Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Republicans person argued that issues similar healthcare should beryllium addressed separately successful bipartisan negotiations further down the track.

In an 11th-hour bid to avert a shutdown connected Tuesday, Senate Republicans failed to walk a stopgap measure that would person extended backing until November 21 successful a 55-to-45 vote.

Two Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, arsenic good arsenic Angus King, an autarkic from Maine, voted with Republicans to beforehand the bill, which needed 60 votes to pass.

Republicans, successful turn, knocked backmost a Democratic measure that would person extended backing until the extremity of October and accrued spending connected healthcare by much than $1 trillion.

That ballot failed 47-53, with nary Republicans successful support.

After the failed votes, Republicans and Democrats traded blasted for the impasse.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attends a quality league astir the authorities shutdown connected Capitol Hill successful Washington, DC, connected September 30, 2025 [Jacquelyn Martin/AP]

“Republicans are plunging america into a authorities shutdown alternatively than fixing their healthcare crisis,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Hakeem Jeffries, the person of the Democrats successful the House of Representatives, accused Republicans of voting to “hurt mundane Americans”.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed anticipation that capable Democrats would transverse the aisle to walk his party’s “clean” measure successful a follow-up ballot connected Wednesday.

“This was each unnecessary. This was each done to fulfill their near governmental base,” Thune said successful an interrogation with Fox News.

Including the existent backing lapse, the US authorities has unopen down 15 times since 1980, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The longest shutdown successful US history, lasting 34 days, took spot successful precocious 2018 and aboriginal 2019, during Trump’s archetypal word arsenic president.