Government Shutdown Enters Third Week with No Clear Path Forward

Today marks the 20th day of the federal government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025. In a series of votes last week, the Senate failed to reach the 60-vote threshold required to advance the House-passed continuing resolution to reopen the government through November 21. The House, meanwhile, has been in recess since September 19.

The White House has already redirected several billion dollars in unspent defense research and development funding to ensure active-duty military pay continues, temporarily softening one of the shutdown’s most visible impacts. On October 31, the military will face its second payday since the start of the shutdown. It remains unclear whether this action will be replicated again.

Most federal agencies remain under contingency operations, with hundreds of thousands of employees furloughed and only essential functions continuing. Unless the shutdown is resolved, federal workers are expected to miss their first full paycheck on October 24.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued more than 1,300 reduction in force (RIF) notices before quickly rescinding approximately 700 of them, leaving around 600 employees still terminated. At the Department of Education (ED), 466 employees also received RIF notices. These followed months of downsizing at ED, which began the year with roughly 4,133 employees and is now estimated to have around 2,000 remaining after the most recent RIF.

With no consensus emerging in the Senate and the House still away, a timeline for resolving the government shutdown remains unclear.