A traffic barrier is seen in front of the dome of the US Capitol as a government shutdown looms in Washington, DC, on September 28, 2023. | Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
The US government will shut down at 12:01 am ET on Sunday, October 1, 2023, if Congress doesn’t pass a short-term bill to keep the government funded while negotiations on spending for the next year continue.
The threat of a shutdown appears to loom over Congress every year. In fact, we previously explained why the government is so susceptible to this frustrating scenario here, as well as in this video, if you prefer to get your news in that way. Spoiler alert: It goes back to the Constitution and how the federal government funds its agencies.
This year, the main hold-up is House Republicans in-fighting. Congress doesn’t have time to pass full-year bills to keep the government open, so it’s looking at a short-term funding bill, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), in the interim. The latter is usually used to buy lawmakers time to reach agreement while avoiding a shutdown. The problem is the GOP conference is split on what should be in the short-term bill — and if there should be a short-term bill at all.
A shutdown would have widespread effects on government services. It would result in hundreds of thousands of federal employees being furloughed, the closure of important facilities like immigration courts, and potential staffing shortages in fields like air traffic control. Some agencies and programs, like the US Department of Agriculture’s SNAP food program, have enough money to keep operating for a few weeks past the shutdown date, but warn they’ll run out of cash shortly after.
Follow here for the latest news, explainers, and analysis on a potential government shutdown.