The US government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. ET on Saturday unless Congress approves a federal funding bill to fill the gap in time. But the politics are fraught and consequences could include halting many federal programs and payments to employees.
President-elect Donald Trump He has already torpedoed a bipartisan agreement proposed by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, plunging Capitol Hill deeper into chaos. Now Johnson is struggling to find a compromise that satisfies Trump and his divided party.
“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, wrote on the social media platform Bluesky on Friday.
Why is the US government on the verge of closure?
Congress must pass spending bills every year to fund the government — and pay the millions of federal employees who run it. Bickering in Congress over what's in the budget means that agreement is often reached.
Lawmakers are technically supposed to pass the spending bill by the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But this bill did not receive sufficient support in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. So they passed a short-term funding measure known as a continuing resolution, extending the deadline until December 20.
One crucial factor behind the squabbling is that Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, so just a few defections jeopardize any legislation proposed by the Speaker. Many of Trump's far-right allies in the House of Representatives opposed the funding bills.
This week, the main opposition came from outside Congress, when Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk A deal between the two parties was ruined That Johnson had agreed.
Trump attacked the agreement for containing too many “giveaways” to Democrats, and announced the explosive demand that any spending bill must raise or eliminate the debt ceiling, which restricts how much the federal government can borrow.
A new Trump-backed bill that would have funded the government through mid-March was comprehensively defeated in the House of Representatives on Thursday, with nearly all Democrats and 38 Republicans voting against it. Johnson pledged to “regroup” and put forward a new proposal on Friday.
What would happen if the US government closed its doors?
Without a bill, the government would not be able to pay the millions of federal employees on its payroll.
It will immediately begin closing “non-essential” functions, including national parks, environmental and food inspections, and the Internal Revenue Service. Hundreds of thousands of workers could be furloughed. During the 16-day 2013 shutdown, 850,000 government employees were furloughed.
Services deemed essential, such as military, law enforcement, border security, air traffic control and in-hospital medical treatment, will continue, but government workers in those roles will not receive salaries until the spending bill is passed.
The last shutdown, during Trump's first term in 2018, lasted for Record 35 days. Trump and hardline Republicans in Congress have indicated they would have no problem repeating the feat.
“The government can shut down until January 20th as far as I'm concerned,” controversial Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on Channel X this week. “And we must stand firm with the American people to stop this madness!”
What is Elon Musk's role?
Musk, appointed by Trump to head the new administration's efficiency campaign, has been an outspoken critic of government overreach and played a leading role in killing the initial bipartisan bill.
“Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this obscene spending bill deserves to be voted on in two years!” Musk posted on his phone After that, Trump opposed the bill and it was quickly abandoned.
Democrats say this highlights the outsized influence the world's richest man has given the new administration, a line of attack trying to get under the president-elect's skin.
“Elon Musk has Donald Trump as a running mate,” Dan Goldman, a Democratic congressman from New York, said on Thursday. “It's very clear that Elon Musk is calling the shots now.”
Jeffries called the measure that failed Thursday night “the Musk-Johnson government shutdown bill.”
Does Trump want a shutdown?
After torpedoing the agreement between the two parties, Trump said he would prefer a shutdown before he took office, so he could put the blame squarely on Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress.
The president-elect said on his platform, Truth Social, on Friday: “If there is going to be a government shutdown, let it start now, under the Biden administration, and not after January 20, under Trump.” “This is Biden's problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”
Trump also renewed his demand on Friday that any deal must raise or get rid of the debt ceiling — a move that would give him greater freedom to manage budgets when he returns to power next year.
“Congress should get rid of the ridiculous debt ceiling, or perhaps extend it through 2029. Without this, we should never make a deal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Remember, the pressure is on whoever is president.”
Will this happen again in three months?
It is possible. The first two iterations of the Close the Gap bill extended current government funding levels through March 14, but lawmakers could change that date in a third version.
No matter how long the financing deal covers, the fight will happen again when it expires – and it can be just as difficult. However, a stop-gap bill would give lawmakers more time to negotiate and even reach a broader spending agreement, rather than another ongoing solution.
One element that may seem very different is the identity of the speaker. Johnson needs the support of lawmakers in his party when the House votes on speaker in January, but he faces the anger of some Republicans over the bipartisan agreement.
Right-wing Republicans have repeatedly threatened their House leadership over spending issues, including the insurrection that ousted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023.
Additional reporting by Alex Rogers in Washington
