US government on brink of shutdown after last-ditch Senate vote fails

Forget the shutdown of national parks (except, of course, we’ve got it reported for you). It’s the likely delay to publication of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report that has folks on Wall Street fretting.

That report – a monthly snapshot of job creation – is always closely watched. And it’s been under even more scrutiny in recent months, as it has shown hiring start to slow to a standstill, prompting Trump to lash out and fire the head of the agency.

But under the Labor Department’s contingency plan, the bureau will suspend operations, including collection of economic data and publication of that report, which is due out on Friday.

The decision means the already cloudy picture of the US economy gets even less clear.

It’s a reminder of the bigger risk of a shutdown right now: It injects new uncertainty into an economy already being roiled by changes ranging from tariffs, earlier cuts to government spending, immigration raids and artificial intelligence.

Image source,White House

The White House has launched a shutdown countdown clock on its website.

Calling it a “Democrat shutdown”, the page says that “Americans don’t agree with Democrats’ actions”.

Both Democrats and Republicans are laying blame on each other when it comes to the shutdown. While Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they fall short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass a spending bill.

It is unclear if US National Parks will be open during a shutdown as the Department of Interior has not published its shutdown plans.

Last year, when a shutdown loomed, the park service said it planned to close to visitors. That shutdown was averted and the plan didn’t come into effect.

But during the 2018-2019 shutdown in Trump’s first term, his administration kept the parks open although most workers were furloughed.

Image source,Getty Images

Conservation advocates hope the over 433 sites under the National Park Service will be closed in the event of a shutdown.

“We know what happened last time park staff were forced to leave parks open and unprotected, and the impacts were disastrous,” Theresa Pierno, president of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association said in a statement.

“Prehistoric petroglyphs were vandalized, battlefield artifacts were stolen, Joshua trees were cut down and illegal off-roading vehicles drove through fragile archaeological sites.

“The damage was devastating and, in some cases, permanent. If the federal government shuts down, unfortunately our parks should too.”

Republicans are pushing to pass a bill funding the government without other initiatives attached – known as a clean CR or continuing resolution.

But they only have 53 seats in the Senate and need 60 votes to pass such a bill.

Therefore, they need Democrats. And the Democrats know that. They are capitalising on that leverage to try and advance their policy goals in health care, including:

• ensuring subsidies for health insurance for low-income individuals do not expire
• reversing Trump administration cuts to Medicaid

Democrats have also raised concerns about Trump cuts to the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Image source,Reuters

On the Republican side, Trump administration officials have been unwilling to offer any substantive concessions.

They appear to believe Democrats – as the ones making demands in exchange for keeping the government open – will bear the brunt of the public’s blame, as they have in some past shutdowns.

Democrats, meanwhile, believe their push for preserving health insurance subsidies is a popular one.

So it’s a standoff. Until the shutdown creates enough public pressure that one side blinks.

At Katmai National Park in Alaska, the annual competition known as Fat Bear Week is being held now to avoid being cancelled in the event of a government shutdown.

Voting began last week and ends – in just a moment – at 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT) tonight.

The contest pitting the park’s bears against each other to determine adequate fatness to withstand the winter was moved to the last week in September. The shift “avoids any uncertainty regarding the National Park Service budget and a possible federal government shutdown”, organisers say.

Voters are asked to pick the bear that “best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears”. It’s currently down to two finalists, Chunk and bear No. 856.

Image source,Katmai National Park and Preserve

Unlike the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian has enough money to keep its museums open for a week.

“Smithsonian will use prior-year funds to remain open to the public at least through Monday, October 6, 2025,” the institution says.

The Smithsonian includes more than a dozen museums and galleries that hosted nearly 17 million visitors in 2024. The most popular are the National Museums of Natural History and American History and the National Air and Space Museum.

Image source,Reuters

Republican Leader John Thune spoke to reporters after the bill failed to pass, expressing disappointment – but also optimism that an agreement could be made to jumpstart government funding.

“Democrats may have chosen to shut down the government tonight, but we can reopen it tomorrow,” the South Dakota senator said.

“All it takes is a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding bill that’s in front of us,” said Thune.

“And I hope, I really hope, that some of them will join us to reopen the government resume bipartisan appropriations work, and get back to the business of the American people.”

The White House Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum confirming that the government will indeed shutdown at midnight tonight, and blaming Democrats for the impasse.

“Affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown,” the memo notes.

“It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict. Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities.”

The memo is signed by Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Trump White House.

Midnight deadline looms as both sides look to assign – and avoid – blamepublished at 02:40

02:40

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

In the end, two Democrats – and one independent who acts like a Democrat – broke ranks and voted with Republicans in an unsuccessful effort to pass a government-funding bill.

One of the Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has become a bit of a political wildcard over the past year. But the other’s decision could hint at some of the doubts around the politics of this shutdown gambit.

Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is a centrist but no party iconoclast. She is, however, up for re-election next year in a state that Donald Trump carried in 2024 and which has been slowly trending Republican for years. In her statement explaining her vote, she expressed concern about the economic toll government closure would have on her state. She might also be worried about the toll it could take on her political prospects as an incumbent on the ballot when voters turn angry.

She issued a call for compromise, but with the midnight deadline looming and both sides trying to assign – and avoid – blame, any kind of agreement seems very distant for the moment.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

It’s been a long day on Capitol Hill for members of Congress and reporters alike.

Even still, not too much has changed over the ten hours that I’ve been here today.

Republicans and Democrats are no closer to a deal to keep the government open than they were when the day started, and the government is widely expected to shut down in just a few hours, when funding runs out.

Now that the last-ditch votes have taken place (and failed) in the Senate, the hallways are clearing and lawmakers, staffers and journalists are headed home.

The writing is on the wall: when Americans wake up on Wednesday morning, the US government won’t be funded.

Image source,US Senate

A Republican-led proposal to avert a shutdown has also failed to meet the 60-senate vote threshold.

The final vote count was 55 in favour and 45 against the bill.

Large parts of the US government are now likely headed towards a shutdown in less than four hours.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source,Getty Images

Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who has occasionally voted with Democrats, tells reporters here at the Capitol that she’s worried about the impact of a potential shutdown on the country’s national parks.

Her state, Maine, is home to Acadia National Park, which could see its gates barricaded if the government shuts down. However, if the decision is made to leave the park open, the park could be damaged by unsupervised visitors, as many park rangers won’t be on duty..

Collins tells us that she’s been in contact with park authorities about what could happen next.

“Acadia National Park is at the peak of its visitor season because of the fall foliage,” she says.

It will not have the staff to handle all the visitors, Collins continues.

“That’s one of the consequences of this needless shutdown.”

Voting has now started in the Senate on the second last-ditch funding bill of the night, this time the Republicans’ proposal to fund the government past midnight and avert a shutdown.

You can watch live above to see lawmakers cast their ballots.

Image source,US Senate

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is speaking on the Senate floor after Schumer, calling for a vote on the next spending resolution, this one led by Republicans.

He criticises Democrats for failing to support GOP-led efforts to keep the government open and accuses them of bowing to pressure from the far-left to oppose anything President Donald Trump has done or plans to do.

He says it’s time to fund the government and “get back to the business of the American people”.

Image source,US Senate

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is speaking now moments after a Democrat-led proposal failed to get enough votes to avert a shutdown.

“Democrats remain ready to get to work to negotiate a truly bipartisan agreement to keep the government open,”he says. “But we need to fix our healthcare system now.”

“The issue can’t wait,” he adds.

Image source,US Senate

A Democrat-led proposal to fund the government has failed, bringing the US closer to a shutdown at midnight.

The funding bill failed with 53 senators voting against it and 47 voting for it, mostly along party lines. To keep the government open, the bill needed 60 of the 100 US senators to support it.

Up next, Republicans will put forward their own proposal which is expected to also fall short of the 60-vote threshold.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

We just spoke with Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, who is voting no on the Republican funding measure.

He expresses concern about cuts to healthcare benefits that could be made with the Republicans’ stop-gap proposal.

Kaine is asked if he’s concerned about government employees losing their jobs because of the looming shutdown, as Donald Trump has threatened permanent mass lay-offs if the government runs out of funding.

“It’s a very real threat, it’s just (that) he’s already doing (it),” he says, in reference to Doge-led cuts to the federal workforce by the president earlier this year.

The Senate votes are now taking place.

As a reminder, Senators are voting on the temporary resolution by the Republicans that would keep the government running for seven more weeks, as well as a Democratic counter-proposal.

You can watch live above as senators cast their ballots, and we’ll bring you the results when we get them, so stay tuned.

Source:BBC