Pulling from both left and right hand biases, on October 1 at 12:01 a.m. the federal government shutdown, after lawmakers failed to decide on passing a funding bill. The argument was centered around if and when lawmakers need to act to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces.

 The Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare, is a health care law from 2010 that aims to expand health insurance coverage and lowers health care costs in the U.S.  ACA’s three main goals are to improve patient care, population health, and reduce the cost of health care. 24 million people use the system to buy health plans for themselves and in some cases family members, and wouldn’t be able to without public programs such as Medicaid,

Unfortunately, there has been little to no progress on the lawmakers parts regarding ending this shutdown. As of right now there’s no clear way out as both parties are in a battle of wills. According to the “Congressional Budget Office” around  750,000 federal employees will be furloughed each day of the shutdown. Furloughed federal employees are temporarily put on unpaid leave and cannot work, while essential personnel, including military and certain federal workers, must continue to perform their duties without pay.

The last shutdown which began in late December of 2018 and lasted around 35 days which is the longest ever U.S. the government shutdown. The shutdown in 2018 was brought about in President Trump’s first presidential term and was brought about by disagreements over funding a wall on the Mexico border. Pre-Trump the longest shutdown was 21 days, under President Bill Clinton in 1995. As of Wednesday October 22 the current shutdown has been going on for 22 days and is now entering its fourth week.

What does it mean for people and how will it affect us? 

Some of the first people to feel the effects of the government shutdown will be the seven million mothers and young children who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program. WIC provides food, Nutrition education, health care referrals and more to over 6.8 million low-income mothers and young children ages 5 and under. Nell Menefee-Libey  from the National WIC Association states, “We have a really short runway here before we would reach a real crisis in program operations,” She calculates that runway at about two weeks.

Unlike Social Security, WIC isn’t an entitlement program, which means it relies on Congress for money every year, however Congress wasn’t able to pass bills funding the government before the fiscal year ended. This has resulted in the program currently being very low on funds, operating mostly on a nearly depleted contingency fund of $150 million, as the shutdown continues. These funds could dry up in just a week or two which may deny millions of mothers and children access to nutritious foods.

Jennifer Ludden from NPR (which is an independent, nonprofit media organization that was founded on a mission to create a more informed public), interviewed Lucia Graves of Lebanon, N.H. who told NPR that “She is counting on the benefits to help feed her family, especially as the cost of groceries is on the rise.” A prolonged shutdown will depend on states filling the gap, if budgets allow.

According to the Treasury’s contingency plan, the IRS has money to keep working for five business days after a lapse in federal appropriations. That five-day clock ran out Tuesday October 7th. What will happen after that is unclear.

Across the country, the National Park Service (NPS) have brought their operations to a halt. As KQED’s Sarah Wright and Carly Severn reported, a contingency plan for the NPS, park road, lookouts, and trails “will generally remain accessible to visitors” for the duration of the shutdown. Other services such as regular road and trail condition updates would not be provided. Concerns have been raised about the safety and responsibility of keeping parks open without having a robust number of employees available to conduct critical services such as maintenance. This concern is suspected to be caused by results of a previous government shutdown, when an ancient rock at Big Bend was vandalized amid the lack of staffing, this was reported on Texas Public Radio‘s by Jerry Clayton.

According to NPR the biggest impacts will be felt by federal workers and active-duty military service members who will not receive a paycheck during the government shutdown. Emergency response personnel will continue to work, but in many cases without pay. Due to the government shutdown thousands of flights have been and will continue being cancelled or delayed due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, who similar to military personnel, are expected to work without pay. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that lots of workers have called in sick, he estimated that staffing levels have dropped to 50% at times in some areas. During the lead up to the shutdown, the White House  threatened mass layoffs of federal employees in the case of a government shutdown. Because the government shutdown happened close to the end of a pay period, federal employees will see their first full missed paycheck on Oct. 24, however for the military it will be Oct. 15.

How the States are Affected:

Some states across the country will feel the impact of the government shutdown more than others due to their positioning. Here’s what we know so far about the states that most feel the impact:

Alaska:

• More than 8,000 Alaska households receive WIC benefits. However, according to Jeff Turner, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Alaska has enough money in the program to last through the first week of the shutdown.
• About 15,000 federal employees live in Alaska, which is one of the highest percentages of federal employees when compared with other states. President Trump’s threat that federal employees could receive termination notices has raised uncertainty around how this crucial workforce to Alaska’s economy could be affected.

Arizona:

• Last week Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said she would not spend state funds to keep Grand Canyon National Park open should the government shutdown.

California:

• The shutdown of the federal government has brought the full or partial closure of many National Park Service sites across California. Muir Woods is fully closed, Alcatraz Island is slated to stay open, Yosemite is open, but with lots of changes for visitors.
• Other sites like Point Reyes National Seashore and Fort Point have partial closures, with some parking lots blocked or bathrooms locked. Some park staff state they didn’t learn the plan until Tuesday afternoon.

Colorado:

• The federal government employs thousands of climate or land-management workers. An EPA (EPA refers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency an agency that creates laws to protect human health and the environment), spokesperson told CPR News (which is the Colorado Public Radio, a non-profit organization public media organization that provides the Colorado community with in-depth, fact-based news and information from local, national, and international sources) the EPA is operating under its shutdown plan, which will result in furloughing thousands of employees.

Kansas:

• Kansas farmers face uncertainties, payments from certain federal programs are up in the air. In addition, nearly half of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s employees will be furloughed, and many offices will be closed.

Missouri:

• The Gateway Arch and Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis are temporarily closed, with National Park Service work largely on hold.

Sources Used: 

“The Federal Government Is Still Shut down. Here’s What That Means across the Country.” Edited by Padma Rama and Emily Alfin Johnson , NPR, NPR, 6 Oct. 2025, www.npr.org/2025/10/06/g-s1-92192/government-shutdown.