Hundreds of thousands of federal employees to be furloughed while others, including FBI and CIA agents, will work without pay.

The United States government shutdown began on Wednesday after Democrats and Republicans in the Senate failed to agree on a short-term government funding plan.

Here is what happens next.

Why has the US government shut down?

The US government shutdown began on 00:01 EDT (04:01 GMT) on Wednesday, which marked the beginning of the new fiscal year, at which point, the past year’s funding for government operations expired.

Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but failed to gather consensus to pass their bill laying out funding for government operations until November 21. Without this bill, the government cannot function.

Democrats refused to support the bill unless Republicans reverse recent cuts to Medicaid enacted under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill in July. Democrats proposed alternative solutions to the bill, but these were rejected by the Republicans. Congress was left deadlocked.

What happens to government employees now?

When the government shuts down, agencies must “furlough” – suspend or discharge – their “non-excepted” – or non-essential – employees.

These furloughed employees receive no pay for the duration of the shutdown. Once the government resumes operations, most will receive back pay, thanks to a 2019 bill passed by Congress enshrining this into law.

That law makes no mention of contract staff, however, meaning cleaning staff and other contractors working in affected government departments and agencies will only be paid if their contracting firm has budgeted for this.

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“Excepted” employees are defined as those “who protect life and property”