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T he recent US government shutdown in 2025 was a real doozy, lasting 43 days from October 1 to November 12. So, what sparked it all? Essentially, it was a clash between Congressional Republicans and Democrats over funding for the 2026 fiscal year. The Republicans wanted to pass a bill without an extension of expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were set to expire in November 2025. Democrats, on the other hand, were adamant about including these subsidies in the bill. The Fallout: Approximately 900,000 federal employees were furloughed, with another 2 million working without pay. Various government programs and services were affected, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some agencies, like the Department of Defense and Transportation Security Administration, continued to operate. Daily Losses: Estimating the exact daily loss is tricky, but we can look at past shutdowns for context. In 2018-2019, the shutdown cost the U...

The federal shutdown began on October 1, 2025, when the continuing resolution funding the government expired and Congress did not pass a replacement.  By November 5, 2025 the shutdown had reached 36 days, making it the longest in U.S. history, surpassing the previous record of 35 days (December 2018–January 2019).  At the time of writing (November 9, 2025) the shutdown is still ongoing. Economic Costs Putting a precise dollar-figure per day is challenging, but analysts provide various perspectives that allow for a ballpark estimate. Aggregate cost estimates The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the shutdown could cost the U.S. economy between $7 billion and $14 billion in total, if it continues into the fourth quarter of 2025.   One estimate puts federal spending temporarily reduced by about $33 billion, rising to perhaps $74 billion if the shutdown lasts eight weeks; missed paychecks for federal employees could be “already around $9 b...

  The current funding lapse has reached a regrettable milestone, becoming the second-longest government shutdown in United States history. The shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025, crossed the 21-day mark on October 22, surpassing the previous second-longest shutdown, which occurred under President Bill Clinton from late 1995 to early 1996. This new second-place record highlights the deep partisan stalemate over federal spending priorities . The failure of Congress and the White House to agree on appropriations has led to widespread disruption, furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal employees and forcing many essential personnel to work without guaranteed pay. The current shutdown is now eclipsed only by the longest government shutdown in U.S. history: the 35-day funding lapse that occurred from late 2018 to early 2019 during the Trump administration , a standoff centered primarily on border wall funding . As the current political impasse continues, concerns are mo...