From October 1st to November 12th, the government went through the longest government shutdown in American history, lasting a total of 43 days. The focus of the shutdown was the renewal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which assures that health insurance is affordable to Americans who cannot afford it.
With the government shutdown, no federal employees were paid. While over two million were made to work without pay, roughly 900,000 were furloughed. Those who were furloughed were considered “non-essential” employees, such as administrators, researchers, and those involved in public policy and regulations. The only government employees who were paid during the shutdown were military. In previous shutdowns, military paychecks were protected by law, but during this shutdown, President Trump raised $130 million to pay the military through private donors, which was legally dubious, as it may defy the Antideficiency Act.
The shutdown greatly affected airlines and travel. 95% of TSA employees continued to work through the shutdown, including air traffic controllers, many of whom began working odd jobs, including Uber and DoorDash. Staffing shortages due to the shutdown caused flight delays in major airports across the country. On October 15, the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem sent a video to be played in airports, claiming all delays were due to Democrats shutting down the government, though most airports refused to play it. Travellers will likely feel the effects of the shutdown for months to come.
On day 20 of the shutdown, October 20th, 2025, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) faced a funding shortage. The program provides food to people without or with very little income (nearly 65% of whom are people of color). By October 27, the Department of Agriculture announced that there would be no federally issued SNAP benefits in November. Nine states, including California and New York, attempted to issue November benefits before the Trump Administration ordered them to undo all of those attempts.
On November 9, eight Democratic senators joined the Republican majority to vote to end the shutdown. This does not guarantee the ACA’s renewal, but it moves the vote until later this year. At the beginning of the shutdown, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett reported that the country could lose up to $15 billion for every week of the shutdown. The Congressional Budget Office confirmed that at least $11 billion was permanently lost.
