The 2025 US Government shutdown has come to a close, with the House now having passed the final bill in favour of reopening, and the final bill having been signed by President Trump.

The Trump administration takes the record for longest government shutdown, overtaking the previous record — set during the first Trump administration.

The 2019 US Government shutdown during President Donald Trump’s first term was triggered by a dispute over a US$5 billion spending bill to build a wall on the US-Mexico border and had nationwide repercussions. Approximately 800,000 federal employees were affected at the time.

Who was affected by the 2025 shutdown?

Over the seven weeks of the shutdown, millions of people were affected with 1.4 million federal workers (including airport security officers, air control staff, and training staff not considered ‘essential’) going unpaid, whether they continued working or not. Another 600,000 were furloughed until further notice. Historically, these employees would receive backpay, however, the current administration has considered not paying some workers. Not included in these numbers are the estimated millions of private contractors who work for federally funded sectors; these workers were not paid at all and are unlikely to receive backpay. 

How did this impact American citizens?

Over 40 million people across the country had their access to affordable food cut, and this will not return to its normal budget immediately post-shutdown. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding essentially ran out. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned it would no longer be able to deliver funding towards SNAP due to the shutdown, as federal appropriations had lapsed. Whilst the USDA do have contingency reserves for SNAP, those are limited and estimated to be US$4.6 billion — equivalent to half of a month of cost. Due to this shortfall, USDA announced that these benefits may be reduced or not issued at all until full funding is restored.

With more than 8 billion food stamps going out every month, the impact of even a reduction in this funding is one of the most significant pain points felt through this shutdown.

States also saw a significant rise in flight delays. Air traffic control and airport workers were told to work without pay; however, this led to more workers taking time off to work other jobs to maintain a source of income. To reduce the pressure on air traffic controllers, US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy ordered the gradual reduction of flights, starting at 4% on Friday, 7 Nov, increasing to 6% by 11 Nov 11, 8% by 13 Nov, and reaching the full 10% by Nov 14, if the shutdown had not ended.

Many people and tourists faced disappointment across the country. Popular museums in Washington DC closed, including all 19 of the Smithsonian museums, the National Zoo and the National Gallery. But this did not just affect the US capital. Many national parks across the country, including Yosemite and Mesa Verde, either closed or operated with a skeleton staff. The National Park system stood to lose US$1 million in visitor fees for each day of closure.

However, some federal employees were shielded from the full brunt of the shutdown. President Trump promised to keep pay checks afloat for US troops, funded by a billionaire donor. All schools remained open and funded, as they are subsidised by state and local budgets. Additionally, lawmakers and judges across the country continued to receive their normal pay, as written in Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 of the Constitution.

What next?

Jobs and unemployment rate data were not collected or reported by the government, due to the shutdown, which makes it harder to quantify the impacts on the workforce and the economy. However, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the cost to be up to US$14 billion. 

President Trump publicly called for the termination of the legislative filibuster in the US Senate, which would eliminate the need for a super majority of 60 Senate votes to pass a spending bill and reopen the government. Whilst this would have ended the shutdown and restored a form of normality for citizens across the country, democratic implications would remain. If Republicans eliminated the filibuster, fundamentally changing the Senate process, it would remove key checks held by the minority party. For this administration, such a move would give the Republicans the ability to pass further bills and policy cuts without Democratic support.

The funding bill that triggered the shutdown passed in the Senate on 11 November, securing the required 60–40 majority. The bill then moved to the House of Representatives, where all 433 members present voted. A simple majority — at least 216 “yea” votes — were needed for the measure to pass and advance to the president’s desk for signature.

The final votes totalled at 222-209, with six Democrats voting “yea” in passing the Republican bill, ultimately ending the shutdown when President Trump's signed the bill on 12 November.

The reopening of government comes just in time for Thanksgiving and hopefully restores a form of normalcy for the American people.