The White House sent a circular late Tuesday to government agencies ordering them to “implement their plans for an orderly shutdown” due to the lack of agreement between Republican and Democratic senators on the passage of the bill establishing the corresponding budget plan, legally known as H.R. 5371.
With no further votes scheduled in the Senate before the midnight (local time) deadline, the Presidential Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russell Vought, has preemptively sent a document blaming Democrats for “forcing a government shutdown” and stating that “the affected agencies must now implement their plans for an orderly shutdown.”
The Trump administration has thus blamed the Senate impasse on “the Democrats’ outlandish political demands, which include $1 trillion (just over €850 billion) in new spending.”
“It is unclear how long the Democrats will maintain their untenable stance, making it difficult to predict the duration of the shutdown,” Washington warned, nonetheless urging employees to “report to work for their next shift to carry out the orderly shutdown activities.”
However, the US government stated that it will issue another memorandum “indicating that government functions should resume once the president has signed a law providing for budget appropriations,” and urged agencies to follow up on the situation, before thanking them “for their cooperation and work.”
The bill, now rejected in the Senate, includes continued funding allocations to federal agencies for fiscal year 2026, additional funding for the security of federal employees, and the extension of several programs and authorities that are about to expire.
The final vote ended with 55 votes in favor and 45 against a provisional funding bill whose approval required Republicans to reach the necessary minimum of 60, after minutes earlier rejecting another Democratic proposal, according to Bloomberg news agency.
Much of the debate revolved around healthcare, and in this regard, Democratic senators demanded the renewal of subsidies for health insurance premiums included in the Obamacare program—the name given to the Affordable Care Act, enacted in 2010 during Barack Obama’s term. Likewise, the minority caucus in this chamber sought to reverse the Medicaid cuts included in Trump’s tax reform passed earlier this year.
Thus, essential workers, such as military troops, will continue to work without pay, while 750,000 non-essential federal employees will be temporarily suspended, even if Trump does not carry out permanent layoffs.
However, the White House resident told the press on Tuesday that his administration could permanently lay off “many” public workers if, as expected, a government shutdown occurs. This measure would deviate from the usual course of action, in which the federal government typically temporarily suspends workers during a shutdown and then pays them their outstanding wages when the shutdown ends.
The impending government shutdown will be the 14th in US history and the first since 2019, when government funding was interrupted for five weeks, including New Year’s, during Trump’s first term.
