Congress is barreling toward a federal government shutdown, which is set to happen if the House and Senate are not able to reach a spending deal by the time the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1.
The last shutdown started on December 22, 2018, and went until January 25, 2019 — 35 days, making it the longest government shutdown in more than four decades. It cost the United States an estimated $3 billion in lost GDP, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
US agencies were first instructed to stop normal operations during government funding lapses, until Congress appropriates more money, in the early 1980s.
While government shutdowns have become less common in recent decades — there have been six since 1990 — an increasingly partisan Washington has left Congress unable to resolve sticking points on spending for longer periods of time.
With Republican Speaker Mike Johnson overseeing one of the narrowest House majorities in history, and the GOP lacking the 60 votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster, the path to avoiding a shutdown remains unclear.
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