US Capitol on 16 July 2025. Image: Alex Wroblewski/AFP via EWN.
(The Post News) – The US government officially shut down at midnight Wednesday after Congress failed to settle on the Republicans’ and Democrats’ funding proposals on the healthcare bill.
Democrats had put forward a last-minute “stopgap” counteroffer to the Republican GOP’s proposal, but voting on each other’s bills ended in a stalemate just before the midnight deadline.
Republicans had pushed to extend the healthcare funding without “other initiatives attached—known as a clean CR, or continuing resolution.” The bill needed to be approved by the majority, including the Democrats, but they leveraged this to add over $1 trillion in health care spending to ensure security for low-income individuals. They also asked to reverse recent Trump administration-approved Medicaid cuts. The healthcare bill received 53 of the 60 votes needed to pass.
What does the shutdown mean?
Largely affecting federal government agencies, as they are funded by appropriations bills, the federal government will stop all non-essential activities until the shutdown ends. The National Flood Insurance Program will close, and government-reliant food assistance programs are expected to close after they run out of funds. Postal services will remain open, while some national parks and forests will remain partially open.
Mandatory services, including the FBI, CIA, border security, and air traffic control, will continue operating, but essential workers will not be paid until the shutdown is resolved and new funding bills are passed. Other federal employees have been placed on unpaid leave, meaning many public services are likely to slow down, with longer queues and delays caused by staff shortages.
Trump’s Response
Similar to the Republicans who blame the Democrats, US President Donald Trump is also doing the same. He threatened to start laying off Democrats. He suggested that he would use this shutdown to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”
US government shutdowns have often lasted a couple of days, with the longest one lasting 34 days in 2018/2019. It is unclear how long this shutdown will last while Congress resumes talks on the healthcare bill.
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