The U.S. government shut down from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12 after Congress could not agree on a federal budget for fiscal year 2026.
The 43-day shutdown became the longest in U.S. history after the Senate failed 14 times to pass short-term funding measures, surpassing the previous 35-day record set during Trump’s first term in 2019.
The two parties came to a head over healthcare as Republicans proposed a budget that would cause millions of low-income Americans to lose their health insurance.
Their refusal to negotiate eventually led eight Democratic Senators to cross party lines and agree to a temporary spending plan that funds the government through Jan. 30, 2026, setting up the potential for another shutdown after that date.
With both parties blaming each other for the shutdown, and no clear path to compromise, here are the facts you need to know.
Claim #1 – Democrats shut down the government in order to “fund healthcare for illegal aliens.”
This claim is FALSE.
Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits or full Medicaid coverage under federal law. Democrats are not interested in changing this law, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Democrats proposed measures to reverse the $1.2 trillion cuts to Medicaid made by Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in July, and to extend ACA tax credits that help over 20 million Americans pay for healthcare.
The shutdown ended without either of the healthcare measures Democrats asked for, though Republican Senators promised a vote in December on extending ACA tax credits, which are due to expire at the end of the year.
ACA recipients have already begun to see spikes in their healthcare premiums for 2026, in some cases up to 300%.
Claim #2 – The Trump administration refused to release emergency funds during the shutdown.
This claim is TRUE.
Government services such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and unemployment benefits all continued during the shutdown. But the Trump administration attempted to pause payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, for the first time in the program’s history.
About 42 million Americans rely on SNAP benefits, with an average monthly payment of $187. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it had $4.65 billion in SNAP contingency funds to use during a shutdown.
The Trump administration refused to tap into these funds until a coalition of 25 states and Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit on Oct. 28, resulting in two federal judges ruling that the USDA must provide partial SNAP payments during the shutdown. Another judge ruled they must provide full SNAP payments on Nov. 6.
Trump pushed back on social media, saying his administration would only release the funds after receiving “appropriate legal direction” from the court, causing severe delays in benefit payments for the month of November.
Claim #3 – Federal employees were expected to work without pay.
This claim is HALF TRUE.
Government services deemed essential remained functional during the shutdown, with many federal employees expected to work without pay. This includes law enforcement, border patrol, in-hospital medical staff, and low-wage service workers in federal buildings.
Some employees will receive back pay for their hours worked during the shutdown. But the ones hired as contractors — including cleaners, janitors, security guards, cafeteria workers, and other staffers who keep federal buildings operating — will often receive nothing.
TSA agents and air-traffic controllers also worked unpaid, causing massive flight delays as airports became short-staffed. The Federal Aviation Administration slashed commercial air travel, with about 800 U.S.-linked flights canceled by Nov. 7.
Members of Congress, senators, and federal judges all continued to receive pay during the shutdown, and the Trump administration announced it would pay military members using legislative and Defense Department funds.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that as many as 750,000 federal workers deemed non-essential were put on temporary unpaid leave.