The government has officially shut down for the first time since 2018 after Congress couldn’t agree to pass a spending bill to keep it funded. 

Democrats blocked a spending bill to keep the government funded until Nov. 21 because they wanted the measure to reverse President Donald Trump’s Medicaid cuts in his “Big Beautiful Bill” and include an extension on health care subsidies. 

Many facilities, services, and benefits should still be available, but some of these may be limited or temporarily stop if the shutdown goes on. 

Here’s how the government shutdown might impact you, federal workers and the economy: 

Which facilities and resources will still be available?

You should still be able to book a flight, since many workers for the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration are deemed essential. However, while they are guaranteed backpay, they have to work without compensation. During the 2018-19 government shutdown, TSA agents called out sick, leading to longer wait times at TSA checkpoints and causing some terminals to temporarily close. 

National parks will remain “as accessible as possible,” although “some services may be limited or unavailable,” according to the National Park Service’s website. 

The Smithsonian Institute, a group of museum and research centers that receives 62% of its budget from federal funds, will remain open until at least Oct. 6. 

The U.S. Postal Service will not be affected by a shutdown and offices will remain open since its operations are funded through its own products and services, not tax dollars. 

You’re still also allowed to purchase savings bonds through the government’s TreasuryDirect website. 

Do I still get federal benefits and aid? 

Everyone who receives Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income should still continue to be paid because they are not subject to yearly Congressional approval. However, if the shutdown goes on long enough, the funding for Medicare administrators who process payments could run out, resulting in delayed Medicare and Medicaid payments to health care providers.

Those who collect Veterans Affairs’ benefits will also continue to receive them. 

Recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program should still receive their October benefits. If the shutdown continues beyond mid-October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture could use reserve funds to pay for benefits, but it’s unclear whether the Trump administration will choose to, according to the Food Research & Action Center. 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has enough funding to remain open for potentially one to two weeks, but the shutdown puts the program “at risk of rapidly running out of funds,” according to the National WIC Association’s website. 

Students will still be able to obtain Pell Grants and federal student loans and can continue to submit their Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms. Borrowers are still on the hook for any payments they need to make on their student debt. 

How will government employees be affected?

An estimated 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed during the shutdown, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

Federal workers who are deemed essential, like the military and TSA employees, are guaranteed backpay, but federal contractors are not. 

The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo last week telling federal agencies that they should consider firing workers in programs without federal funding or “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” 

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents more than 820,000 government workers, is now suing the Trump administration over its threats to fire workers during a shutdown. The AFGE says that the administration’s plans are “an unlawful abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress.”

How will this affect the economy? 

The 2018-19 shutdown, which lasted five weeks, reduced gross domestic product by $3 billion, according to the CBO.

The CBO has also stated that if a government shutdown lasted several weeks, “some private-sector entities would never recover all of the income they lost.” 

The shutdown will also impact the release of data that gives us insight into the economy, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ all-important jobs report. The Federal Reserve relies on economic data, like the jobs report, when deciding whether to raise or lower interest rates. 

While we have alternate measures of data from payroll companies like ADP, experts say they can’t substitute federal data. Data collection itself could be pushed back as a result of the shutdown.