The federal government is now in its longest full shutdown ever, and Congress is not giving any signs that an end is in sight.
A full government shutdown occurs when the end of the fiscal year comes on Sept. 30 with none of Congress’ 12 single-subject appropriations bills passed by the House and Senate.
While both the House and Senate have passed three separate appropriations bills each, they have yet to sync up and pass the same version of any spending measure.
That means that, for the most part, all agencies and programs that rely on discretionary funds appropriated by Congress every year are either paused or severely altered to meet their lack of budget.
The current government shutdown, now 22 days old, is now also the second-longest in U.S. history in general.
Thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, and thousands more laid off. Meanwhile, employees deemed essential, like congressional staffers, are working without paychecks until the shutdown is over.
Active-duty military personnel who were expected to work without pay did get their money on Oct. 15, when the Trump administration reshuffled Pentagon funding meant for research and development. However, it’s not clear if the same can be done during the military’s next pay period on Oct. 30 if the shutdown continues.
