WASHINGTON— Government funding lapsed early Wednesday morning after the White House and lawmakers failed to reach a spending deal, triggering a shutdown that is expected to halt some federal services and put hundreds of thousands of federal workers on furlough.
The shutdown could be more consequential than those that have happened in the past. Trump administration officials have said they plan to use the shutdown to reduce the size of the government, moving to cut jobs across agencies. That effort is already being challenged in court.
The funding lapse will have far-reaching ramifications . For the duration of the shutdown, the Labor Department is expected to pause the release of economic data—likely including a highly anticipated jobs report that was set to be made public on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop analyzing surveillance data for reportable diseases. Many planned workspace safety inspections will be canceled. And workers won’t trim grass and install headstones at national cemeteries.
Senate lawmakers failed on Tuesday evening to agree to a measure to fund the government amid deep divisions between the parties. Republicans can’t pass a funding plan without some Democratic support.
Republicans put forward a seven-week stopgap bill to keep the government funded, arguing that it would buy lawmakers time to hash out their differences and craft full-year spending bills. Democrats opposed the measure, calling for restoring hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare funding , including enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire this year.
Both parties moved quickly to blame their opponents for the shutdown, with federal agencies sending emails to workers criticizing congressional Democrats for opposing the stopgap funding measure backed by Republicans. Just after midnight, a banner across the White House website read, “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government.” At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said in a statement that “ Donald Trump and Republicans have now shut down the federal government because they do not want to protect the healthcare of the American people.”
Voters have historically blamed the party in power for closing the government. But the political fallout will likely depend on the length and scale of the shutdown, which comes more than a year before the midterm elections.
House lawmakers aren’t expected to return to Washington until next week and any compromise funding proposal would need their approval. Congress hasn’t passed any appropriations bills, so unlike during the 34-day partial shutdown that ended in 2019, no government offices have been funded.
The Office of Management and Budget has asked agencies to consider reductions in force for employees whose work doesn’t align with the president’s priorities and isn’t funded by other revenue streams. “We can cut large numbers of people,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
In a letter to agencies late Tuesday, the OMB said employees are expected to report to work to carry out shutdown activities. “It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of a shutdown difficult to predict,” the letter said.
Two unions representing government workers sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, arguing that plans for mass layoffs during a shutdown are unlawful.
The shutdown comes amid an already wobbly labor market, particularly in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. If the shutdown stretches for weeks or months, those areas, which are home to hundreds of thousands of federal employees , could see a lag in the local economy or more pressure on community services such as food banks.
Russ Vought , Trump’s budget chief, asked agencies last week to submit plans laying out how they would scale back services during a shutdown. An analysis of those plans by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed.
The shutdown will slow or halt government functions across agencies. The Office for Civil Rights at the Education Department won’t investigate claims of discrimination in schools. The CDC won’t offer guidance to states about opioid overdoses and diabetes or HIV prevention.
All but one employee in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is tasked with collecting jobs data, will be furloughed. The National Institutes of Health won’t meet to do peer-review research, nor will it admit new patients at its clinical center.
E-Verify, the government program companies use to verify that their employees are authorized to work in the U.S., will be paused, according to an administration official.
The Commerce Department will furlough tens of thousands of employees, according to its shutdown plan. Most services and activities of the U.S. Census Bureau and the International Trade Administration, will stop.
Many elective surgeries and other routine procedures at Defense Department medical and dental facilities will be paused. Veterans transitioning into civilian life also won’t be able to access related health programs.
Certain government functions deemed critical, including medical care at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, will continue. Though nearly 85% of the Office of Federal Student Aid will be furloughed, collections on student debt will proceed, as those contracts and staffing are “prefunded,” according to agency plans. Staff will continue to release loans and Pell Grants to students. The Social Security Administration will keep staff on hand to ensure benefits are paid, the agency said. Most of FEMA’s roughly 25,000 employees will be allowed to continue working.
Transportation Security Administration employees and air-traffic controllers will work without pay. During prior shutdowns, some TSA staffers called in absent from work, closing security checkpoints and causing delays at some airports.
The National Park Service’s roads, trails and memorials will generally remain open, according to a person familiar with the shutdown plans. Retired park superintendents from Acadia to Yosemite last week urged the Interior Department to close the parks during a shutdown to prevent damage and vandalism.
Smithsonian Institution museums will use prior-year funds to remain open to the public at least through Oct. 6, according to a notice on its website.
Furloughed federal employees won’t receive paychecks for the duration of the shutdown. In years past, they have received back pay.
The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that advocates for federal workers, estimates that more than 200,000 employees have left the government this year. The Trump administration offered a buyout that pushed tens of thousands of employees off government payrolls this week. Agencies laid off many workers as well.
Many federal workers have been contributing less to retirement accounts to build up cash in case of a shutdown, said Austin Costello, a financial adviser with Capital Financial Planners, which primarily works with government workers. “It seems like everyone we’ve talked to has been preparing for chaos.”
Federal workers who are furloughed during a shutdown are 31% more likely to leave their jobs in the next year, according to research from business schools at the University of Virginia, Emory University and Stanford University.
Write to Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com and Lindsay Ellis at lindsay.ellis@wsj.com
