What You Need to Know About the Federal Government Shutdown

The federal government has been shut down since October 1, 2025. At this time, there is no end in sight. We are monitoring the situation closely and will share actionable updates as soon as we have them. Learn more with this blog post.

Every year by September 30, Congress must pass twelve bills to fund the federal government. If they don’t, the government shuts down until funding is approved. During a shutdown, many federal agencies—like Housing and Urban Development or Labor—pause most of their work, and thousands of federal employees are furloughed (temporarily sent home without pay). Essential services, such as national security and Social Security payments, continue.

Because Congress did not agree on Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 funding levels by midnight on September 30, the government shut down. During the shutdown, Congress will be negotiating to get the government up and running as soon as possible. This is not an easy process—there are major priority differences between Democrats and Republicans, the House and Senate, and Congress and the Trump Administration.

In order to end a shutdown, Congress needs to pass final funding bills, change the negotiating deadline, or a combination of both.

• Pass a continuing resolution (CR)​​ A CR is a temporary spending bill that level-funds the government and gives Congress more time to negotiate final funding levels. Generally, CRs do not include any major changes, like cutting a program.
• Pass some final funding bills and a CR for the rest​ Congress could do a combination: Pass noncontroversial funding bills (like the one that funds the Legislative Branch) and a CR for the ones that need more negotiating time.
• Pass all final funding bills This is the best-case scenario, but the least likely to happen.

The immediate and long-term impact on federal agencies and programs can vary. The duration of the shutdown will certainly cause further impacts—the longer the shutdown goes on, the more federal programs will run out of money.

• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shared that regular drawdown payments for current discretionary grants should continue as normal.​​​ Grant payments, including for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) program, should still be accessible in the Payment Management System. However, if your drawdown request is flagged and needs manual review, then you could experience a delay in funding until after the shutdown. HHS did not indicate how long they can continue regular payments—if the shutdown lasts a long time, they may not have enough reserve funding to continue payments.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shared that some regular payments should continue.​​ Specifically, regular payments for current Continuums of Care (CoC) and Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) grants should still be accessible through ELOCCS. As with HHS, if your request is flagged, you could experience a delay in funding. HUD did not indicate how long they can continue CoC and YHDP payments during a shutdown, but they did share that rental assistance payments are expected to continue through November.
• Education programs, including Head Start and the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program, should continue as normal.​ These programs have already received their funding for the upcoming year.
• Some food assistance programs could be in trouble. Because funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is given a month ahead of time, SNAP benefits will last through the month of October. SNAP has also indicated that they have some reserves that could be used beyond that. However, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program only has funding to last for just over a week. A few states are planning to continue the program temporarily with state funding, but most are unable to do so.

• Government Shutdown: Potential Impact on Programs Serving Children, Youth, and Families Experiencing Homelessness
• Do You Live in HUD or USDA Housing? Know Your Rights During the Government Shutdown
• How Will a Government Shutdown Affect SNAP Benefits?
• ISSUE BRIEF: How a Government Shutdown Hurts Kids
• FAQs Ahead of a Government Shutdown
• 2025 Government Shutdown Resources
• How the Shutdown Is Affecting Federal Services and Workers
• Government Shutdowns Q&A: Everything You Should Know

We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more about the shutdown, how long it could be, and what programs will be affected. Please share with us any updates you receive—this is vital to our advocacy. We always keep you totally anonymous.

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