The US government will shut down at 12.01am ET on Saturday unless Congress passes a stop-gap federal funding bill in time.
Amid rank partisanship in Washington, Republicans and Democrats have been unable to reach a deal on temporary legislation needed to keep the government operating beyond the end of the week.
If they cannot reach a compromise in time, the government will be plunged into its first shutdown since December 2018, halting many federal programmes and payments to employees.
Why is the US government on the brink of a shutdown?
Congress must pass spending bills each year to fund the government and pay the millions of federal employees who run it. Congressional squabbling about what is included means agreement often comes down to the wire.
Lawmakers are technically supposed to pass a spending bill by the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But Republicans have been unable to garner sufficient support for comprehensive legislation and instead turned to short-term funding measures known as a continuing resolutions.
Two of these measures have been passed in the past six months, but the latest, agreed in December, expires on Friday night. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday narrowly passed another extension that would provide funding to the end of September.
But Democrats fear handing the president too much space to enact his agenda over the next six months and have said they will not provide the support needed for that bill to pass the Senate. They have instead proposed a shorter one-month extension while comprehensive legislation is thrashed out.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input from congressional Democrats,” said Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senate minority leader, on Wednesday.
What happens if the US government shuts down?
Without a bill, the government would be unable to pay millions of federal employees on its payroll.
It would immediately begin shutting down “non-essential” functions, including national parks, environmental and food inspections and the Internal Revenue Service. Hundreds of thousands of workers could be furloughed. During a 2013 shutdown that lasted 16 days, 850,000 government employees were furloughed.
Services deemed essential, such as the military, law enforcement, border security, air traffic control and in-hospital medical treatment would continue, but government workers in those roles would not be paid until a spending bill was passed.
The last shutdown, during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2018, lasted for a record 35 days as Republicans and Democrats clashed over funding for his border wall. Another spending dispute in 2023 led to the ousting of Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy by rightwing members of his party.
Could a shutdown still be averted?
Yes, but time is running out.
If a handful of Senate Democrats can be convinced to break with the party leadership and back the House legislation, Republicans could reach the 60 votes needed to push it over the line.
One Democratic senator — John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — has said he would vote in favour of the bill. But one Republican — Rand Paul of Kentucky — has said he would vote against it.
A handful of Democrats have kept their options open. “I’m weighing the badness of each option,” said Arizona Senator Mark Kelly on Wednesday.
An alternative scenario would involve the Democrats garnering enough Republican support to push their preferred one-month extension through the Senate.
But even if they were to manage this, it would be difficult for it to pass the House, which was adjourned by Republican leadership for the rest of the week following Tuesday’s vote.
What would a shutdown mean for Trump?
The president has been keen to avoid a shutdown and spent time this week lobbying Republicans to vote in favour of the House bill despite their misgivings.
He lashed out at the lone Republican holdout — Thomas Massie of Kentucky — for voting against the bill, branding him a “grandstander” and calling for the party to challenge his seat in primary elections.
Both parties have sought to pin the blame for any shutdown on their opponents’ intransigence.
“Senate Democrats have a clear choice,” said Alabama Senator Katie Britt on Wednesday. “Will they vote for or against a Schumer Shutdown?”
Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, put it differently: “Let’s be clear: Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House. If the government shuts down, it will be because they chose to shut it down,” he said.
Additional reporting by Alex Rogers in Washington
