A shutdown isn’t the government “turning off.”
It’s a cash-flow choke when Congress misses a spending bill or CR. Agencies follow contingency plans: “excepted” work continues (safety, security, property protection), a lot of everything else freezes.
Here’s what that looks like in the real world—and what it means for your wallet, travel, and timeline.
What stays open
Military ops, air traffic control, Border Patrol, VA medical care, Social Security/Medicare benefit payments, USPS. “Excepted” staff work without pay until funding returns.
What closes or slows
Most “non-excepted” civilian agencies: grantmaking, many audits, rulemaking, outreach, most training, a lot of IT/change work. Hiring freezes. Backlogs stack fast.
Paychecks & people
Feds deemed excepted work unpaid during the gap but receive back pay by law. Federal contractors? Often no work, no back pay—project risk rises.
Travel & passports
Flights operate (ATC/TSA excepted), but staffing strain = longer lines and delays. Passport/visa processing slows or pauses at some locations.
National parks
Access rules vary: some gates open with skeleton crews (trash/restrooms closed), others lock up. Expect closures, hazards, and sudden changes.
Food & families
SNAP/WIC and school meals rely on prior-period/contingency funds; short gaps are manageable, longer ones trigger benefit delays and rationing.
Markets & money
Treasury keeps paying debt; shutdowns aren’t defaults. But data releases (BLS, BEA, Census) can be delayed—markets fly blinder, volatility ticks up.
Courts & cops
Federal courts run briefly on fees, then curtail civil work. DOJ prosecutions continue; most civil enforcement slows unless protecting life/property.
Science & services
NIH/NSF/EPA/NOAA curtail research, grants, field work. Safety-critical monitoring (hurricanes, quakes) continues; a lot of lab and review work pauses.
How it ends & what to do
It ends with a CR or full-year bills. Expect a pay catch-up for feds, not contractors. Your move: finish passport apps early, keep travel flexible, refill benefits/cards on time, and assume delays wherever government touches your plan.
Prediction
Short gap = nuisance and backlogs; multi-week gap = real pain: benefit friction, data outages, parks mess, and wider economic drag from missed pay and stalled procurement.
