WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will shut down this weekend unless Congress comes up with a plan and acts soon.
Federal funding expired at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, and a preliminary version failed to pass Thursday night after billionaire Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump killed the original bill. In response, Congressional Republicans went back to square one.
Watch live coverage of the government shutdown
As Congress debates the path forward, the government businesses that Americans depend on and the paychecks of millions of federal workers are at stake.
Here’s what you need to know about what a government shutdown is and how it affects you.
What is a government shutdown?
The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, meaning almost all decisions about government funding are made on Capitol Hill. Congress must pass a spending bill each year by the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, or the government will run out of money to keep it functioning.
If Congress does not act by that date, the House and Senate could also pass legislation called a continuing resolution to keep the government fully operational for a short period of time. Back in September, Congress did just that, setting a new deadline of December 20th.
Now, if Congress doesn’t act by the end of Friday, there will be a funding shortfall. In that case, all non-essential government functions must cease.
How did Congress get to this point?
This is how the government spending process is designed to work. Each year, the House and Senate appropriations committees pass more than a dozen spending bills targeting various federal agencies. The bill must then pass both the House and Senate before it goes to the president’s desk and is signed.
That rarely happens in modern parliaments. As is now customary, Congress passed a short-term funding extension in September when it ran out of time to complete the process.
Congress has known about the Dec. 20 deadline since the fall, but didn’t announce a proposed deal to avoid the shutdown until this week.
On Tuesday night, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced an agreement between top Republicans and Democrats in Congress. It was supposed to extend government funding until March 14 and provide economic support to farmers and relief to hurricane-hit areas. It also includes a small increase in members’ compensation of up to 3.8% for the first time in more than a decade.
Even before the House was scheduled to vote, Musk began posting negatively about the bill to his more than 200 million followers on his platform X. Trump and a range of far-right politicians similarly opposed the plan. He calls it a quid pro quo for Democrats and criticizes some policy provisions, such as congressional spending.
President Trump also added a last-minute request for Congress to pass legislation to address the debt ceiling. The country is not expected to reach its borrowing limit until sometime next year, but President Trump told NBC News on Thursday that he wants Congress to remove it completely.
House Republicans tried to pass a second bill to address President Trump’s concerns, but it failed with nearly all Democrats and 38 Republicans voting against it. Now, as the clock ticks closer to the deadline, they must find a new path.
When does the shutdown begin? How long can it last?
If Congress doesn’t take last-minute action, the shutdown will begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, so the first impact would be felt Monday.
It’s difficult to predict how long the shutdown will last, but given the divided Capitol Hill and upcoming holidays, it could last for a while if it happens. Republicans have a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, and Democrats have a majority in the Senate. The situation will change on January 3, when Republicans take control of both houses of Congress and President Trump is inaugurated on January 20.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on X that she supports shutting down the government until Inauguration Day.
What parts of government does a government shutdown affect?
A government shutdown would prevent the federal government from paying millions of employees, including military and reservists, just before the holidays.
Hundreds of thousands of government workers could be furloughed, meaning they will temporarily stop coming to work. Approximately 850,000 workers were furloughed during the 2013 shutdown. But even those who must continue to perform essential jobs will not be paid during the closure period.
Federal employees will receive retroactive pay when the government reopens, which was not always guaranteed until Congress passed the bill after the 2019 government shutdown.
Some government functions will continue, including the military and public safety, such as air traffic control and the Transportation Security Administration. All federal agencies have created “contingency plans” for how they will operate during the shutdown and which employees will be “excluded” from furloughs.
For example, the Pentagon requires active-duty military members to continue reporting for duty, and inpatient and emergency outpatient care at Pentagon medical facilities will continue during the closure, defense officials told NBC News. .
Military and veteran benefits will continue to be paid because they come from a separate trust fund rather than from Congressional appropriations, but payments could be delayed due to staffing shortages, officials said.
President Joe Biden and all members of Congress will continue to work and receive compensation as required by law.
Will the closure affect benefits and payments such as Social Security?
Social Security checks, which are paid each month to 73 million Americans, will continue during the government shutdown, but they are considered “mandatory” spending and are funded through the dozen or so spending bills that Congress is supposed to pass each year. This is because they are not covered.
Other examples of continued mandatory spending include payments from Medicare, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and Veterans Affairs benefits.
How long did the longest government shutdown last?
Congress has authorized several lapses in funding over the past 40 years, resulting in 20 shutdowns lasting at least a full day.
The longest period of shutdown was also recent, with the government shutting down for a full 34 days from December 21, 2018 to January 25, 2019.
During that closure, national parks remained open, but trash began piling up as park employees were furloughed. TSA employees, who were required to continue working without pay, began calling in sick, leading to delays at airports. TSA administrators warned that a closure this year could result in longer wait times heading into the holiday season.
