Government shutdowns in the US are becoming more common, with Donald Trump's first presidential term seeing three such instances. This included the longest shutdown in American history, lasting 35 days.

Before Trump, Bill Clinton held the previous record, with a 21-day shutdown in 1995 towards the end of his first term as president. Republicans had won control of both the House and the Senate halfway through Clinton's first term, and wanted to pass a budget that, among other things, limited spending for Medicare.

Similarly, Barack Obama endured a 16-day shutdown in 2013 over the then-president's proposed health care legislation.

Ronald Reagan, a Republican president, oversaw the most shutdowns during his presidency - with eight recorded across his two terms in the 1980s. However, all of them were relatively short - the longest funding gap lasted a mere three days.

Image source, Getty Images

It's midnight in Washington DC, and the US federal government shutdown has officially begun.

This would now likely leave hundreds of thousands of workers on unpaid leave and halt many government programs and services.

The shutdown comes hours after the Republican-controlled Senate failed to pass a government spending bill.

This is the first government shutdown since 2018 and will see non-essential workers placed on unpaid leave.

You can read more about how we got to this point here - and stay with us as we bring you more updates.

Image source, US Department of Housing and Urban Development

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has added a message to the top of its website blaming the looming government shutdown on the "radical left".

The message appears both in a pop-up window on every page of the government website and in a bright red banner running across the top of every page.

The notice spurred a Hatch Act violation complaint from the progressive watchdog non-profit Public Citizen. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.

Craig Holman, a government ethics expert with the group, called it "an obvious violation" of the act and questioned why the agency thought they could make such a post. He said the administration had "managed to neuter" ethics enforcement offices that would enforce such policies.

It doesn't appear that similar banners have been added to any other government agency websites at this time.

When reached for comment, the White House did not answer an inquiry on whether it was involved in the pop-up on the website.

There is only one hour to go until the US federal government shutdown officially begins.

If you're just joining us, this is what we know so far:

• US senators have failed to pass a last-minute bill to avert a government shutdown, which almost guarantees that funding will cut off at midnight ET (04:00 GMT)
• If the shutdown does come about, it will be the first since 2018; we would expect to see essential government workers continue on in their roles as normal, but those deemed non-essential put on unpaid leave
• Services deemed non-essential include the food assistance programme, federally-funded pre-school, the issuing of student loans, food inspections, and operations at national parks
• President Trump has threatened "irreversible" cuts if shutdown happens, and has placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of Democrats

Stay with us as we bring you more updates in the lead up to the midnight deadline.

Image source, Reuters

A big question that people are looking into is whether a shutdown could affect flights.

Airline representative Airlines for America says in a statement on the potential action that the system "may need to slow down, reducing efficiency" and urges the government to stay open.

It adds that when workers either continue on without pay or are furloughed, "the entire industry and millions of Americans feel the strain".

Looking back to the most recent shutdown in 2018-19, it did have an effect. It saw traffic controllers working longer shifts, and more staff called in sick, leading to some delays in security checks at major airports.

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore

Global financial markets appear to be shrugging off concerns about the shutdown.

Investors seem to be mostly looking past the widely expected stoppage as they see it as a temporary blip.

The main US stock indexes made gains on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high.

On Wednesday morning, stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed as investors focused on issues closer to home rather than the political wrangling in Washington DC.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was around 1% lower after a slightly disappointing business sentiment report, while the ASX 200 in Australia was also a little lower.

Stock exchanges in Hong Kong and mainland China are closed for the National Day holiday.

Investors in the region will also be watching an interest rate decision from India's central bank later on Wednesday.

Shutdown means no jobs report this week - adding to confusion over US economic outlookpublished at 03:11 BST 1 October

03:11 BST 1 October

Natalie Sherman
Business reporter

Image source, Reuters

Forget the shutdown of national parks (except, of course, we've got it reported for you). It’s the likely delay to publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report that has folks on Wall Street fretting.

That report - a monthly snapshot of job creation - is always closely watched. And it’s been under even more scrutiny in recent months, as it has shown hiring start to slow to a standstill, prompting Trump to lash out andfire the head of the agency.

But under the Labor Department’s contingency plan, the bureau will suspend operations, including collection of economic data and publication of that report, which is due out on Friday.

The decision means the already cloudy picture of the US economy gets even less clear.

It’s a reminder of the bigger risk of a shutdown right now: It injects new uncertainty into an economy already being roiled by changes ranging from tariffs, earlier cuts to government spending, immigration raids and artificial intelligence.

Image source, White House

The White House has launched a shutdown countdown clock on its website.

Calling it a "Democrat shutdown", the page says that "Americans don't agree with Democrats' actions".

Both Democrats and Republicans are laying blame on each other when it comes to the shutdown. While Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they fall short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass a spending bill.

It is unclear if US National Parks will be open during a shutdown as the Department of Interior has not published its shutdown plans.

Last year, when a shutdown loomed, the park service said it planned to close to visitors. That shutdown was averted and the plan didn't come into effect.

But during the 2018-2019 shutdown in Trump's first term, his administration kept the parks open although most workers were furloughed.

Image source, Getty Images

Conservation advocates hope the over 433 sites under the National Park Service will be closed in the event of a shutdown.

"We know what happened last time park staff were forced to leave parks open and unprotected, and the impacts were disastrous," Theresa Pierno, president of the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement.

"Prehistoric petroglyphs were vandalized, battlefield artefacts were stolen, Joshua trees were cut down and illegal off-roading vehicles drove through fragile archaeological sites.

"The damage was devastating and, in some cases, permanent. If the federal government shuts down, unfortunately our parks should too."

Republicans are pushing to pass a bill funding the government without other initiatives attached - known as a clean CR or continuing resolution.

But they only have 53 seats in the Senate and need 60 votes to pass such a bill.

Therefore, they need Democrats. And the Democrats know that. They are capitalising on that leverage to try and advance their policy goals in health care, including:

• ensuring subsidies for health insurance for low-income individuals do not expire
• reversing Trump administration cuts to Medicaid

Democrats have also raised concerns about Trump cuts to the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Image source, Reuters

On the Republican side, Trump administration officials have been unwilling to offer any substantive concessions.

They appear to believe Democrats - as the ones making demands in exchange for keeping the government open - will bear the brunt of the public's blame, as they have in some past shutdowns.

Democrats, meanwhile, believe their push for preserving health insurance subsidies is a popular one.

So it’s a standoff. Until the shutdown creates enough public pressure that one side blinks.

At Katmai National Park in Alaska, the annual competition known as Fat Bear Week is being held now to avoid being cancelled in the event of a government shutdown.

Voting began last week and ends - in just a moment - at 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT) tonight.

The contest pitting the park’s bears against each other to determine adequate fatness to withstand the winter was moved to the last week in September. The shift “avoids any uncertainty regarding the National Park Service budget and a possible federal government shutdown”, organisers say.

Voters are asked to pick the bear that "best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears". It’s currently down to two finalists, Chunk and bear No. 856.

Image source, Katmai National Park and Preserve

Unlike the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian has enough money to keep its museums open for a week.

“Smithsonian will use prior-year funds to remain open to the public at least through Monday, October 6, 2025,” the institution says.

The Smithsonian includes more than a dozen museums and galleries that hosted nearly 17 million visitors in 2024. The most popular are the National Museums of Natural History and American History and the National Air and Space Museum.

Image source, Reuters

Republican Leader John Thune spoke to reporters after the bill failed to pass, expressing disappointment - but also optimism that an agreement could be made to jumpstart government funding.

“Democrats may have chosen to shut down the government tonight, but we can reopen it tomorrow,” the South Dakota senator said.

“All it takes is a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding bill that's in front of us,” said Thune.

“And I hope, I really hope, that some of them will join us to reopen the government resume bipartisan appropriations work, and get back to the business of the American people.”

The White House Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum confirming that the government will indeed shutdown at midnight tonight, and blaming Democrats for the impasse.

"Affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown," the memo notes.

"It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict. Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities."

The memo is signed by Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House.

Midnight deadline looms as both sides look to assign - and avoid - blamepublished at 00:40 BST 1 October

00:40 BST 1 October

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

In the end, two Democrats - and one independent who acts like a Democrat - broke ranks and voted with Republicans in an unsuccessful effort to pass a government-funding bill.

One of the Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has become a bit of a political wildcard over the past year. But the other's decision could hint at some of the doubts around the politics of this shutdown gambit.

Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is a centrist but no party iconoclast. She is, however, up for re-election next year in a state that Donald Trump carried in 2024 and which has been slowly trending Republican for years. In her statement explaining her vote, she expressed concern about the economic toll government closure would have on her state. She might also be worried about the toll it could take on her political prospects as an incumbent on the ballot when voters turn angry.

She issued a call for compromise, but with the midnight deadline looming and both sides trying to assign – and avoid - blame, any kind of agreement seems very distant for the moment.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

It’s been a long day on Capitol Hill for members of Congress and reporters alike.

Even still, not too much has changed over the ten hours that I've been here today.

Republicans and Democrats are no closer to a deal to keep the government open than they were when the day started, and the government is widely expected to shut down in just a few hours, when funding runs out.

Now that the last-ditch votes have taken place (and failed) in the Senate, the hallways are clearing and lawmakers, staffers and journalists are headed home.

The writing is on the wall: when Americans wake up on Wednesday morning, the US government won't be funded.

Image source, US Senate

A Republican-led proposal to avert a shutdown has also failed to meet the 60-senate vote threshold.

The final vote count was 55 in favour and 45 against the bill.

Large parts of the US government are now likely headed towards a shutdown in less than four hours.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who has occasionally voted with Democrats, tells reporters here at the Capitol that she's worried about the impact of a potential shutdown on the country's national parks.

Her state, Maine, is home to Acadia National Park, which could see its gates barricaded if the government shuts down. However, if the decision is made to leave the park open, the park could be damaged by unsupervised visitors, as many park rangers won't be on duty..

Collins tells us that she's been in contact with park authorities about what could happen next.

"Acadia National Park is at the peak of its visitor season because of the fall foliage," she says.

It will not have the staff to handle all the visitors, Collins continues.

"That's one of the consequences of this needless shutdown."