Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN
The current government shutdown is poised to become the longest in history. On Tuesday, it ties the 35-day record set in 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term. With no serious negotiations happening, it’s a good bet the shutdown will continue for the foreseeable.
Many of the effects — like lapses in food aid for the lowest-income Americans — are just starting to be felt. Other impacts, like the cost to the economy of delaying billions in federal funding, may never truly be known.
RELATED: ‘I’m gonna starve’: Lines at Bay Area food pantries double as SNAP payments freeze, remain uncertain
Here are some of the more notable effects, from CNN’s reporting and as documented by other outlets, of what is officially tied for the longest US government shutdown in history.
More than 1 million federal workers aren’t getting paid. Some federal workers are deemed “essential” and showing up to work. Others have been furloughed during the shutdown. While the Trump administration has found ways, so far, to pay troops and some other employees, a lot of workers are trying to figure out how to live on $0 paychecks. Lawmakers and judges, on the other hand, are receiving their normal salaries because it is written into the Constitution. Some are not accepting the money while the shutdown persists.
There’s some question about whether they’ll ever get paid. A law Trump signed in his first term requires that affected workers get backpay, but Trump’s administration has questioned whether it will apply.
It’s not just federal workers who aren’t getting paid. Contractors who work indirectly for the federal government are also not getting a paycheck. They are not guaranteed back pay once the shutdown ends. CNN talked to a woman who has worked as a cleaner at the Smithsonian for nearly 30 years.
Other nongovernmental workers are affected too. The San Diego Union-Tribune talked to criminal defense lawyers who represent indigent clients but aren’t getting paid for their work at the moment.
Nearly 42 million people won’t get their full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Judges have ordered the Trump administration to utilize reserve funds, but the SNAP contingency fund isn’t enough to cover the more than $8 billion in benefits that typically go out each month.
RELATED: Trump cabinet official: SNAP cutoff has ‘silver lining’
Tariffs are partially funding child nutrition programs. A separate food program, WIC, for women, infants and children, is being partially funded by tariff revenue.
Flu, Covid-19 and RSV data aren’t being updated. The lack of data is creating blind spots for local governments and health systems.
Head Start programs are starting to lose funds. Programs that provide early education and child development for low-income children started to lose federal funding on November 1. Funding is staggered to 1,600 different programs across the country throughout the year. Some 140 programs in 41 states have now missed payments, according to CNN’s Tami Luhby.
Obamacare premiums are way up. Democrats triggered the shutdown over their insistence that Republicans negotiate an extension of enhanced subsidies for Obamacare premiums. The premiums are up this year already, even before the end of the enhanced subsidies. Premiums could more than double for some Obamacare enrollees. It remains unclear, as the shutdown drags on, what will happen with the expiration of the enhanced subsidies.
RELATED: As the shutdown drags on, these people will lose if health care subsidies expire
There are travel delays. Air traffic controllers are among the federal workers required to work without pay. As more of them either call in sick or take time to work other jobs, the number of understaffed airports has increased. On Halloween weekend, CNN documented 98 instances of staffing shortages and a total of more than 400 shortages during the shutdown so far.
There are some mortgage delays. Loan approval has continued for most homebuyers, but CNN found some government loan programs have been affected, like a US Department of Agriculture program to encourage purchases in rural and suburban areas. The government-backed flood insurance program also stopped writing new policies.
No new Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans for small businesses. Applications for government-backed loans were frozen on October 1. The agency says it is unable to deliver $170 million to businesses each day. CNN talked to a wine importer who can’t close on a loan but is simultaneously getting hit with a tariff bill.
Nuclear safety workers were furloughed for the first time. The agency that oversees the safety and security of the US nuclear stockpile furloughed most of its 1,400-person workforce, which forced National Nuclear Security Administration sites, including Pantex in Texas and Y-12 in Tennessee, “into safe shutdown mode.”
A $7 billion hit to the economy. At least. The first month of the shutdown will ultimately cost the US economy between $7 billion and $14 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The shutdown will actually cause a much larger slowdown in GDP, but most of the loss will ultimately be recouped.
$33 billion in delayed spending… and counting. The government likely delayed $33 billion in the first month of the shutdown, according to CBO. If the shutdown lasts six weeks, the federal government will have delayed spending $54 billion, including $16 billion in compensation that did not go out to federal workers, $36 billion that was not spent on goods and services and $2 billion that won’t be spent on SNAP benefits. If the shutdown lasts eight weeks, the amount of delayed spending jumps to $74 billion, according to CBO.
But we don’t really know how the shutdown is affecting the economy. Jobs, unemployment and retail data aren’t being collected by the government during the shutdown. That makes it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to make informed decisions about whether to lower interest rates.
IRS operations have been limited. But tax law still applies! And the IRS is still pivoting to implement provisions in the recently passed tax and spending cuts bill, what Republicans named the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
National cemeteries are affected. Burials continue, but upkeep and things like headstone placement are being delayed, according to local reports.
Many national parks are open, but not staffed. Volunteers are trying to step in and help, as CNN’s Bill Weir found in Yosemite.
Blue states have been targeted for cuts. Trump administration officials targeted blue states including California and New York by canceling infrastructure projects totaling $8 billion at the beginning of the shutdown.
Furloughed health care workers were recalled to the office. It’s Medicare open enrollment until December 7, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services brought thousands of furloughed workers back to the office to help individuals sign up for health insurance plans.
It’s not possible to get a marriage certificate the normal way in Washington, DC. Most court operations continue, but the District’s superior court has paused issuing marriage licenses and conducting marriage ceremonies. Another DC office has stepped in after the DC Council passed an emergency bill according to the local outlet The 51st.
There have been fewer IPOs. With Securities and Exchange Commission staffers furloughed, it has been more difficult for companies to go public or spin off subsidiaries. The SEC did offer a way for companies to proceed with IPOs during the shutdown, but many companies delayed their IPO plans, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The-CNN-Wire
