President Donald Trump’s budget office has ordered federal agencies to execute shutdown plans after a stopgap funding bill failed in the Senate Tuesday evening.
Lawmakers have until midnight to agree on a plan to fund the government, but after two bills brought by each party failed in the Senate, a shutdown is all but guaranteed.
For their part, Republicans put forth a bill that was already approved by the House. Democrats John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto and Angus King voted with 52 Republicans in favor of the bill, while 44 Democrats and Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against it.
Earlier Tuesday, President Donald Trump blamed Democratic leaders for the looming government shutdown, warning that there will be “irreversible” layoffs of federal employees if lawmakers don’t reach an agreement on a spending plan by midnight tonight.
Democrats demanded the reversal of cuts to Medicaid, set out earlier this year in Trump’s “Big, Beautiful, Bill,” and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Republicans have falsely claimed that the Democrats demanded funding for unauthorized immigrants.
What is a government shutdown?
The U.S. government is once again on the verge of a shutdown.
For the 21st time in the past 50 years, all federal agencies will run out of money at midnight on Tuesday — unless Congress acts to stop them.
The reason is that, while Republicans control both houses of Congress and the presidency, they still need 60 votes in the Senate to ram funding bills past a potential Democratic filibuster.
That means that as long as Democrats refuse to budge, Republicans must either offer them a compromise or abolish the filibuster. So far, neither has happened.
So what would a government shutdown actually mean for you and for the nation? Find out more from Io Dodds:
Democrat who supported GOP spending bill explains her vote
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, has explained why she supported a Republican spending bill to keep the government open.
“We need a bipartisan solution to address this impending health care crisis, but we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another,” the senator said in a statement.
Democrats demanded the reversal of cuts to Medicaid, set out earlier this year in Trump’s “Big, Beautiful, Bill,” and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for their support on a spending bill.
Watch: Trump official says a ‘clean continuing resolution’ will be passed
Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett has said a “clean continuing resolution” to fund the government will be passed as a government shutdown looms.
“It almost always ends up with a clean continuing resolution, and that’s how this is going to end up, too. That’s going to happen; the question is, do we have a shutdown between now and then?” Hassett told CNN’s Jake Tapper Tuesday.
Ted Cruz rails against Democrats for ‘Schumer Shutdown’
Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, has railed against Democrats for holding the government “hostage” in what he has dubbed the “Schumer Shutdown.”
“Welcome to the Schumer Shutdown. In nine hours, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are very likely going to shut the federal government down. They are doing this to hold the government hostage in order to try to force free health care for illegal aliens all across this country,” Cruz said in a video posted to X late Tuesday afternoon.
“Now, President Trump is not going to go along with that, and neither are Republicans in the House and Senate.”
The government will shut down in a few hours if lawmakers don’t pass a spending bill by midnight.
Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have demanded a reversal of cuts to Medicaid, set out earlier this year in President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful, Bill,” and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies.
But Republicans have falsely claimed that the Democrats demanded healthcare funding for unauthorized immigrants.
How could a government shutdown affect your next flight?
Flyers should beware of a looming government shutdown that could result in longer security lines and flight disruptions, according to a Business Insider report.
If lawmakers do not agree on a spending plan by midnight, the government will start to shut down. One consequence of a government shutdown is restricted overtime hours for air traffic, passport control and airport security employees, Atmosphere Research Group travel analyst Henry Harteveldt told Business Insider.
This restriction means fewer employees will be working during peak travel hours, leading to more headaches for flyers.
John Rose, chief risk officer at the global travel management company Altour, further stressed potential travel delays.
“While airlines are expected to operate normally, since they staff their own check-in and baggage teams, government-run services could face disruptions,” he told Business Insider.
Rose continued: “If you have upcoming travel, especially internationally, allocate extra time for both departure and arrival. Long lines are nothing new, but during a shutdown, they could be significantly worse.”
Trump is ordering federal agencies to start shutdown
President Donald Trump’s budget office has posted a letter, saying, “Affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told federal employees to come to their next shift to “undertake orderly shutdown activities.”
Vought blamed the Democrats for the shutdown, writing that Democratic senators blocked the passage of a spending bill supported by Trump “due to Democrats’ insane policy demands.”
Full Story: Senate Democrats vote to shut down government as they hold firm on Republican spending bill despite Trump threats
Senate Democrats held firm and chose to block a Republican spending bill Tuesday evening, all but guaranteeing a government shutdown — even as President Donald Trump threatened “irreversible” layoffs if the bureaucracy is ground to a halt.
The Republican-controlled Senate put forth a stopgap spending bill called a continuing resolution to keep the government open until Thanksgiving. But Democrats voted against the continuing resolution, also called a CR, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer leading the charge to a shutdown.
Only Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine) and John Fetterman (D-Penn). joined the Republicans. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to oppose it.
The vote sets up a full-blown government shutdown, the third during Trump’s two presidencies and the first since 2018-2019, from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1.
Read more from Eric Garcia:
Labor secretary says Democrats are playing ‘political games’
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has said Democrats are playing “political games” as a government shutdown looms.
“America First policies are working, and it’s going to come to a screeching halt because the Democrats are choosing to play political games,” Chavez-DeRemer told Fox Business Tuesday.
Democrats’ reluctance to pass a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown is over healthcare concerns.
They have demanded a reversal of cuts to Medicaid, set out earlier this year in Trump’s “Big, Beautiful, Bill,” and an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Republican spending bill fails in the Senate
A Republican-led spending bill to stop the government from shutting down has failed in the Senate in a 55 to 45 vote.
Democrats John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Angus King of Maine voted with 52 Republicans in favor of the bill, while 44 Democrats and Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against it.
The vote failed shortly after a spending bill pushed by the Democrats, which included reversing Medicaid cuts and extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, failed along party lines.
Lawmakers needed to pass a spending plan by midnight to avoid a government shutdown; now a shutdown is imminent.
Democrats’ spending bill fails in the Senate
A short-term spending bill pushed by Democrats has failed in the Senate in a 47 to 53 vote along party lines.
