It finally ended. After 43 days, the government shutdown officially ended on November 12th, 2025. This was the longest government shutdown in history and one that will be remembered for years to come.
For many, why the government shutdown took place remains unclear. The government shut down due to the fact that both chambers of congress couldn’t agree on a spending plan to send to the president to sign into law. The House was able to pass a temporary funding bill to avoid the shutdown, but sadly, it couldn’t clear the Senate and democratic resistance, which is a board term for opposing a government or policies deemed harmful to democracy. This meant that by the end of September the senate was 7 votes short of the 60 needed to pass the spending bill because of the filibuster, a Senate rule requiring a supermajority to end the debate.
Due to the government shutdown thousands of government employees had to work without pay. According to ourpublicservice.org Commerce, Education, Homeland Security, and Health and Human services (HHS) were the most affected by the shutdown. The New York Times also stated they were affected by trade and licensing, economic data, health services, student aid, and most of those jobs had to take a pause like pausing the FDA drug applications.
One of the more serious issues caused by the shutdown involved air traffic controllers, who had to stay on the job because they were considered essential personnel, according to ABC NEWS it’s also illegal for them to go on strike. This became a serious issue due to the added stress and financial hardship of working without pay that the controllers had to suffer through. Things became very challenging for travelers as well as airlines and airports when some controllers called in sick which caused more than 5,000 flights to be cancelled and an estimated $15 billion in lost revenue, according to The New York Times and CBS News
Anthony Zurcher and Natalie Sherman of BBC NEWS, report that President Donald Trump said that air traffic controllers who worked during the shutdown could get bonus pay but doesn’t know where the money will come from. Zurcher and Sherman also reported that the Department of Homeland Security has begun issuing $10,000 bonus cheques to Transportation Security Administration agents who worked without pay and “with exemplary” performance during the shutdown.
With the shutdown over, government employees back at work, and important areas like air traffic control able to be up and running at normal levels, it seems that life is back to normal. However, according to Miranda Nazzaro And Madison Alder of FEDSCOOP, a tech media brand, not all of those who were furloughed are back at work and many are still wondering if they will receive back pay.
One key area that is being examined by many is how the shutdown affected the economy. During the shutdown, approvals for loans and permits were delayed and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts were suspended.” is also stated in BBC NEWS by Anthony Zurcher and Natalie Sherman. But unlike government employees , contractors didn’t receive back pay once the shutdown ended, a lot of them were small businesses without big clients. Zurcher and Sherman report that while government employees should receive back pay, contractors will not because they are employed by private companies, not the federal government directly, an existing law. which is problematic for these organizations, especially those that are small businesses.
