Federal agencies ordered to start US government shutdown plans as deadline just hours away
Federal agencies in the US have been ordered to start planning for a now-inevitable US government shutdown, due to take effect at 12.01am local time (2.01pm AEST).
This morning Senate Democrats voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government.
Under a US shutdown, essential federal employees like the military, airport security, some aviation and weather roles are required to work without pay.
Non-essential federal employees, such as national park rangers, are sent home.
Federal agencies in the US have been ordered to start planning for a now-inevitable US government shutdown, due to take effect at 12.01am local time (2.01pm AEST). (AP)Under a US shutdown, essential federal employees like the military, airport security, some aviation and weather roles are required to work without pay. (Alex Wong/Getty)
The 55-45 vote Tuesday on the bill to extend federal funding for seven weeks fell short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation.
It came as Democrats are making good on their threat to close the government if President Donald Trump and Republicans won’t accede to their health care demands.
After Tuesday’s votes, it was increasingly unlikely that either side would concede before the 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
Some government functions — like NASA’s space missions, President Donald Trump ‘s immigration crackdown and certain public health work at FDA and the USDA — would continue during a shutdown.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump emphasised his vision of using the military for domestic purposes during a speech to top U.S. military officials. He emphasised handling “the enemy within,” referring to criminals and immigrants who are in the country illegally.
U.S. military are still required to work during a shutdown. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump was joined by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the unusual gathering of hundreds of U.S. military leaders who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world for an unveiling of new directives to end “woke” culture in the military.
With a government shutdown just hours away, Democrats and Republicans angrily blamed each other and refused to budge from their positions, unable to find agreement or even negotiate as hundreds of thousands of federal workers stood to be temporarily stood down or laid off.
The partisan standoff over health care and spending is threatening to trigger the first US government shutdown in almost seven years at.
To avoid it, the Senate would have to pass a House of Representatives measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while legislators finish their work on annual spending bills. But a resolution appeared far off as tempers flared, increasing the odds of a shutdown by the hour.
Former US federal government workers protest about the looming government shutdown, on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a rally with former federal employees. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP)
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans are trying to “bully” Democrats by refusing to negotiate on an extension of health care benefits and other priorities.
“It’s only the president who can do this. We know he runs the show here,” Schumer said Tuesday morning, after a bipartisan White House meeting the day before yielded little progress.
US President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans say they won’t entertain any changes to the legislation, arguing that it’s a stripped-down, “clean” bill that should be non-controversial.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans “are not going to be held hostage” by the Democrats’ demands. The Republican-led House was on a week-long recess, unavailable for immediate votes even if the Senate did find bipartisan agreement. And far from entering into negotiations, Trump instead posted a fake, mocking video of Democrats on Monday evening after the White House meeting.
On Tuesday, Trump threatened retribution, saying a shutdown could include “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”
It was still unclear if either side would blink before the deadline.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters as the US government lurches toward a shutdown at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, September 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)
Blame game escalates
While partisan stalemates over government spending are a frequent occurrence in Washington, the current impasse comes as Democrats see a rare opportunity to use their leverage to achieve policy goals and as their base voters are spoiling for a fight with Trump.
Republicans who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate would likely need at least eight votes from Democrats to end a filibuster and pass the bill with 60 votes, since Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it.
Still, Schumer said Trump and Republicans would be to blame if the government shuts down.
A handful of Democrats said they were still deciding how to vote, holding out for a last-minute compromise. Thune said he is “hoping there are Democrats out there who are reasonable and understand what’s at stake here.”
The last shutdown was in Trump’s first term, from December 2018 to January 2019, when he demanded that Congress give him money for his US-Mexico border wall. Trump retreated after 35 days — the longest shutdown ever — amid intensifying airport delays and missed paydays for federal workers.
A protester during the last US government shutdown in December 2018.
Democrats’ healthcare demands
Millions of people could face higher insurance premiums if the health care subsidies expire at the end of the year. Congress first put them in place in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to expand coverage for low- and middle-income people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats say they want the subsidies immediately extended. They have also demanded that Republicans reverse the Medicaid cuts that were enacted as a part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” this year and for the White House to promise it will not move to rescind spending passed by Congress.
