🇺🇸 Is the U.S. Government Shut Down? — What’s Happening Now (Feb 2026) – Yes — parts of the U.S. federal government are currently in a partial shutdown while lawmakers try to finalize spending legislation. This shutdown began in the final hours of January 30–31, 2026 after Congress failed to pass all of the required funding bills before a midnight deadline.
Is the U.S. Government Shut Down?
🧱 What Happened?
In the U.S., the federal government must pass a set of annual appropriations bills to fund government departments and agencies. If Congress can’t pass these bills by the start of a new fiscal period, funding lapses and agencies must close or reduce operations — that’s what we call a government shutdown.
In late January 2026:
- Congress passed some parts of the budget, but not all.
- A deal was struck in the Senate to separate funding for most agencies from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with only a two-week extension for DHS funding.
- The Senate approved this plan, but the House did not vote on it before the midnight deadline because lawmakers were out of session.
- As a result, funding for many departments officially lapsed at 12:01 AM on January 31, 2026, triggering a partial government shutdown.
🛑 What’s Affected Right Now
The shutdown is partial, meaning some operations continue while others stop or scale back:
❌ Affected or limited:
- Pentagon and Defense Department funding has lapsed, affecting operations and civilian employees.
- Department of Transportation funding lapsed, possibly affecting air travel management and infrastructure work.
- Some furloughs or staffing changes could begin for non-essential employees.
✅ Still functioning:
- Veterans’ benefits and Social Security continue.
- Certain safety-related services keep running.
- Some agencies already had funding in place.
Essential workers — like air traffic controllers or TSA officers — still work but may do so without pay if the shutdown lasts more than a few days.
🧠 Why This Shutdown Happened
The showdown largely centers on disagreements over immigration enforcement and DHS funding.
After deadly incidents involving federal immigration agents, some lawmakers — especially Senate Democrats — refused to support a DHS funding bill without reforms to agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This disagreement broke a broader spending agreement and led to the lapse when the House wasn’t in session to take the Senate’s revised plan up in time.
Unlike the long shutdown in late 2025 (which lasted 43 days and impacted hundreds of thousands of workers), this shutdown is expected to be shorter and less disruptive — possibly only a few days if lawmakers quickly pass the Senate-approved spending package once the House reconvenes.
📆 What’s Next?
- The U.S. House of Representatives returned to Washington and may vote on a funding plan as early as Monday, February 2, 2026.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he’s confident Republicans can push through the needed votes to pass the spending package and end the shutdown by Tuesday.
- However, Democrats have signaled they may not support the current deal, complicating negotiations and potentially extending the shutdown beyond the weekend.
📌 Final Takeaway
Yes — the U.S. government is currently in a partial shutdown because Congress missed the funding deadline, leaving some federal operations unfunded.
But the shutdown is expected to be brief if lawmakers can quickly approve the Senate’s spending deal now that the House is back in session.