The Longest Federal Government Shutdown in History Ends

November 13, 2025 / 8 min read

In the late evening of November 12, 2025, President Trump signed a new stopgap government funding bill into law thereby ending the current federal government (“government”) shutdown.^[1]This latest shutdown started on October 1^st and lasted for 43 days, making it the longest shutdown in modern history.^[2]

us-capitol-building-with-reflection

As discussed below, very generally, the newly enacted funding measure contains, in main part, three full-year appropriations bills that will fund certain government departments like Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Veterans Administration (VA), through the end of the fiscal year next fall, as well as a continuing resolution to fund the rest of the government at existing spending levels through January 30, 2026.^[3]In addition, the funding measure also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through next September and reverses federal employee layoffs with backpay.^[4]Of note, the new funding law does not contain any monies to fund the soon expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which was a core issue at the heart of the shutdown stalemate over the past several weeks.^[5] However, as part of the deal, Senate Republican leaders have pledged to hold a Senate vote by mid-December on whether to extend the enhanced subsidies.^[6]

Going forward, as the government reopens, the focus now turns to January 30^th which, as noted above, is when the newly enacted continuing resolution expires. If another funding agreement is not reached by January 30^th, there is the potential for another shutdown. Verisk will be closely monitoring this issue as the weeks unfold toward this date.

In the interim, for those interested, the below provides an overview of how the shutdown saga began, its impact in general (including its certain effects on Medicare and Social Security), along with how it ultimately ended, as follows:

Government shutdown – recap

On September 19^th, the House of Representatives passed a “stopgap” continuing resolution (CR) by a vote of 217-212 to keep the government funded at existing levels through November 21st.^[7]However, in the Senate competing GOP and Democratic proposals that would have kept the government open failed, thereby causing the government to shut down as of 12:01 a.m. on October 1^st.^[8] Thereafter, the Senate held approximately 14 additional votes on the House passed funding bill through early November, all of which failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to pass.^[9]

At the crux of the stalemate was, in main part, a dispute regarding the extension of federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which are set to expire at the end of the year.^[10]The debate was centered primarily on whether this issue should be addressed as part of a temporary funding extension to keep the government open, or whether the issue should be negotiated separately and outside the context of funding the government.^[11]

As reported widely by news outlets (and experienced first-hand by many in the public at large), the shutdown had impact in several areas. While a complete examination into the shutdown’s impact is beyond the scope of this article, some noted examples included numerous flight delays and cancellations, and hundreds of thousands of federal employees who were either furloughed, laid off, or who worked without pay.^[12]In addition, the shutdown impacted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.^[13] The Trump Administration also attempted to fire approximately 4,100 federal employees as part of what were referred to as “reductions in force (RIFs)” dismissals.”^[14]However, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s efforts to effectuate these dismissals.^[15]

By early November, the shutdown had entered its second month, with the Congressional stalemate continuing with seemingly no end in sight. However, signs of a possible breakthrough suddenly surfaced late in the second weekend of November as discussed in the next section.

How the shutdown ultimately ended

On Sunday, November 9^th, the Senate took the first step toward ending the shutdown when a group of seven Senate Democrats and one Independent (who caucuses with the Democrats) worked with, and joined, the GOP majority on an alternate CR to fund the government.^[16]This bill, referred to as a “minibus,” included, in main part, three full-year appropriations bills that will fund certain departments like Agriculture, the FDA, and VA, through the end of the fiscal year next fall, as well as a continuing resolution to fund the rest of the government at existing spending levels through January 30, 2026.^[17] The bill also fully funds the SNAP program through next September and reverses the President’s furloughs and attempted layoffs of federal workers (with backpay).^[18]

Of note, the bill did not contain any monies to fund the expiring ACA subsidies but, instead, included a promise that the Senate will vote on that issue by the end of the second week of December, and the Democrats would have final say on the bill’s contents.^[19]This bill passed the Senate on a procedural vote (60-40) late Sunday evening.^[20]

On Monday, November 10^th, the Senate then took a “final” vote on the funding bill that had passed the Senate the night before. On final vote, the bill passed again by the same 60-40 margin.^[21]Following Senate passage, the bill headed to the House of Representatives, which had been out of session since September 19^th, thereby requiring many House members who had left D.C. to hurry back to Washington to vote on the Senate bill.

In the afternoon of Wednesday, November 12^th, the House began debate on the Senate bill and ultimately passed the bill in the evening on the 12^th by a vote of 222-209, with six Democrats joining nearly all Republicans, thereby setting the stage for President Trump to sign the bill.^[22]Two Republicans voted against the bill.^[23]

Following House passage, President Trump then signed the bill into law in the late evening of November 12^th thereby officially ending the longest government shutdown in modern history. As the government reopens, all eyes are now on January 30, 2026, which is when the newly enacted continuing resolution expires to see if another potential shutdown can be averted.

Impact on Medicare & Social Security

Regarding Medicare, the shutdown had mixed impact as reported in our recent article. Very generally, the shutdown did not result in an interruption of Medicare benefits as these benefits are part of mandatory spending which is not subject to the appropriations process.^[24]In addition, it is noted that Medicare’s annual open enrollment period (October 15^th to December 7^th) started as scheduled despite the shutdown.^[25]However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) noted that the shutdown would, or could, impact other activities, such as policy and rule-making, health care facility survey and certification, contract oversight, outreach and education (including Medicare card, and other mailings), and beneficiary casework.^[26]

Once the shutdown began, many readers of our blog were concerned about how the shutdown could potentially impact Medicare secondary payer (MSP) contractor activities. However, as reported in our October 1^st article, Verisk reached out to CMS’s contractors, the Commercial Repayment Center (CRC), the Benefits Coordination and Recovery Center (BCRC), and Workers’ Compensation Review Center (WCRC) and was able to confirm that these entities were funded through the fiscal year, and that the shutdown was not expected to impact MSP contractor operations. In this regard, it is noted that we did not experience any interruption in MSP contractor activities during the shutdown.

However, one apparent casualty of the shutdown in the MSP compliance area was CMS’s cancellation of its TPOC/WCMSA webinar.^[27] This webinar was scheduled for October 1^st (the same day the government shutdown began). CMS cancelled this webinar shortly before it was scheduled to start and noted that it was postponed “until further notice.” While CMS’s cancellation notice did not specifically cite the shutdown as the reason why the webinar was cancelled, it would seem reasonable to assume that it was related to the shutdown. It will be interesting to see if CMS will now reschedule this webinar as the shutdown is lifted.

With respect to Social Security, the shutdown did not result in a disruption of social security benefits since these benefits are covered by mandatory spending which has already been approved by Congress without an expiration date.^[28]However, there were reports that in-person support for beneficiary benefit verification letters was suspended, although beneficiaries could still reportedly access these letters online and through the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) automated phone system.^[29]

In addition, as part of our handling of MSP claims for our customers and based on our observations in that regard, we were advised by certain Social Security Administration offices that they were unable to process third-party social security status verifications due to the shutdown. These verifications are typically used to determine the potential applicability of a Medicare set-aside. Based on our experience with prior shutdowns, we expect the SSA to resume processing these requests as the government reopens and operations get back to normal. Verisk will continue to monitor this matter to see exactly when the SSA starts to resume processing third-party verifications coming out of the shutdown. In the interim, the claimant may be able to expedite this process by establishing an account at https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount to request a Benefit Verification.

Questions?

Please do not hesitate to contact the author if you have any questions. In the interim, the Verisk policy team will continue to monitor events in this area and provide updates if warranted.

[1] Yilek, C., Watson, K. and Hubbard, K. (2025, November 12). Government shutdown ends as Trump signs funding bill. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-house-vote-senate-deal-trump/

[2] Kelly A. (2025, November 12). The House just voted to end the longest government shutdown in US history after 43 days. Business Insider. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/the-house-just-voted-to-end-the-longest-government-shutdown-in-us-history-after-43-days/ar-AA1QkLkV?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[3] Thorp, F. (2025, November 9). Senators reach tentative deal to end the government shutdown. NBC News. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senators-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-the-government-shutdown/ar-AA1Q7fKr?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[4] Thorp, F. (2025, November 9). Senators reach tentative deal to end the government shutdown. NBC News. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senators-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-the-government-shutdown/ar-AA1Q7fKr?ocid=BingNewsSerp and Stancy, D. (2025, November 12). Trump signs bill ending longest government shutdown in US history. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-signs-bill-ending-longest-government-shutdown-us-history

[5] Pecorin, A. (2025, November 9). Enough Senate Democrats vote with Republicans to break government shutdown impasse. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrats-expected-vote-republicans-end-shutdown-sources/story?id=127361326 and Becket, S. and Hubbard, K. (2025, November 11). Here's what's in the Senate deal that would end the government shutdown. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-senate-deal/?intcid=CNR-01-0623

[6] Popli, N. (2025, November 12). Government Shutdown: House Sends Spending Bill to Trump. TIME. https://time.com/7333543/government-shutdown-over/

[7] West, A. (2025, September 19). House Passes Continuing Resolution; Senate Continues to Weaken Filibuster. GovTack.us. https://www.govtrack.us/posts/541/2025-09-19_house-passes-continuing-resolution-senate-continues-to-weaken-filibuster and H.R. 5371. Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026 (119th Congress, 2025-2026). See also, Walsh, D. (2025, Oct. 17). With some shutdown pain points delayed, talks in Congress are ‘nowhere.’ NPR. https://www.npr.org/2025/10/17/nx-s1-5577136/government-shutdown-congress-trump, Kapur, S., Wong, S. (2025, Oct. 14). Both parties brace for a ‘long conflict’ as government shutdown hits two-week mark. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/both-parties-brace-long-conflict-government-shutdown-two-week-mark-rcna236970 and Hubbard, K. (2025, Oct. 1). Why did the government shut down? Here’s what behind the funding lapse. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-2025-funding-congress/

[8] Hutzler, A. and Singh, N. (2025, November 11). Government shutdown timeline: How senators went from 40-day impasse to sudden deal - ABC News. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/government-shutdown-timeline-senators-40-day-impasse-sudden/story?id=127377839

[9] Francis, M. (2025, November 4). How much longer is government shutdown expected to last? 14th Senate vote failed today. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/11/04/how-many-votes-are-needed-to-reopen-the-government-shutdown-14th-vote-results-live-senate-when-long/87087040007/ and Lebowitz, M. and Murphy, J. (2025, November 11). Government shutdown key dates: SNAP, ACA, Social Security, museums, veterans affairs, WIC and more. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/government-shutdown-key-dates-social-security-wic-smithsonian-museums-rcna235198

[10] Hussein, F., Cappelletti, J., Bedyan, J., Riddle, S. (2025, Oct. 15). Federal workers endure financial strain and fear layoffs as the government shutdown drags on. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/congress-federal-workers-shutdown-layoffs-5bef57b6c431830a9af84fbfcc59b324 On this point, this resource states: “The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding fix and demanded that the bill include an extension of federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Trump and other Republican leaders have said the government must reopen before they will negotiate with Democrats on the health subsidies.” Id. Expanding on this point, the current logjam has also been described as follows: “Democrats are demanding an extension of tax credits that have helped millions of people afford health insurance since the coronavirus pandemic, while Republicans have refused to negotiate until Congress passes a funding bill to reopen the government.” Cappelletti, J., Sanders, L. (2025, Oct. 16). Who’s winning the blame game over the shutdown? Here’s what a new AP-NORC poll shows. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/poll-government-shutdown-blame-trump-republicans-democrats-12c01432bbb43746b6d8d32390c959f4

[11] Hubbard, K. (2025, Oct. 1). Why did the government shut down? Here’s what behind the funding lapse. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-2025-funding-congress/ On this point, this resource provides further explanation as follows: “This time around, Democrats have refused to help Republicans in the majority extend government funding without addressing health insurance subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans have been steadfast in their belief that health care and other issues should be negotiated outside the context of funding the government, and urged Democrats to agree to a temporary funding extension. On Sept. 19, House Republicans passed what's known as a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at existing levels until Nov. 21. Republicans touted the ‘clean’ continuing resolution that would give lawmakers more time to work out full-year spending bills. But Democrats insisted that Republicans negotiate with them on the funding plan to earn their support. Although Republicans have majorities in the House and Senate, most legislation in the upper chamber is subject to a 60-vote threshold to advance. With 53 Republicans, Democratic support is necessary. Meanwhile, Democrats pushed their own proposal to avert a shutdown with a bill that would keep the government funded until Oct. 31. Their bill also includes a number of their priorities, including a permanent extension of enhanced tax credits for Americans who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, which became a red line for their support. Both the House-passed bill and the Democratic proposal fell short in the Senate, as the two parties became locked in a stalemate over the funding plan.” Id. In addition, it is reported that Democrats also want any government funding bill to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer, which do not go into effect immediately but are already driving some states to cut Medicaid payments to health providers. Swenson, A. and Jalonick, M., (2025, October 1). AP, https://apnews.com/article/health-care-subsidies-congress-shutdown-democrats-republicans-bb3464820a347fd2c0399e78e335881e

[12] Cappelletti, J., Sanders, L. (2025, Oct. 16). Who’s winning the blame game over the shutdown? Here’s what a new AP-NORC poll shows. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/poll-government-shutdown-blame-trump-republicans-democrats-12c01432bbb43746b6d8d32390c959f4 and Hussein, F., Cappelletti, J., Bedyan, J., Riddle, S. (2025, Oct. 15). Federal workers endure financial strain and fear layoffs as the government shutdown drags on. AP News https://apnews.com/article/congress-federal-workers-shutdown-layoffs-5bef57b6c431830a9af84fbfcc59b324

[13] Cunningham, M. (2025, November 1). SNAP funding is set to lapse Nov. 1, leaving recipients empty-handed. Here's what experts say. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/food-stamps-snap-benefits-november-2025-government-shutdown/

[14] Svirnovskiy, G. (2025, Oct. 14). White House to continue reductions in force as shutdown drags on. Politico. https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/14/congress/more-rifs-00607296

[15] Judge Temporarily Blocks the Trump Administration From Firing Workers During the Government Shutdown. (2025, Oct. 10). U.S. News by Associated Press. https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2025-10-15/judge-says-shes-inclined-to-block-the-trump-administration-from-firing-workers-during-the-shutdown This article notes that the Judge who issued this order is U.S. District Judge Susan Illston from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Id.

[16] Hubbard, K. and Becket, S. (2025, November 9). Senate advances funding measure with backing of 8 Democrats, moving a step closer to ending shutdown. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-senate-weekend-session/, Thorp, F. (2025, November 9). Senators reach tentative deal to end the government shutdown. NBC News. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senators-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-the-government-shutdown/ar-AA1Q7fKr?ocid=BingNewsSerp, and Shoaib, A. (2025, November 10). Is the government shutdown over? What happens next after Democrats cave. Newsweek. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/is-the-government-shutdown-over-what-happens-next-after-democrats-cave/ar-AA1Q853c?ocid=BingNewsSerp

The referenced Democrats who worked with the GOP majority in getting the Senate bill passed were Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D. NH); Sen. Maggie Hassan (D. NH); Sen. Tim Kaine (D. VA); Sen. Dick Durbin (D. Ill); Sen. John Fetterman (D. PA); Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D. NV); and Jacky Rosen (D. NV). Joining the above Democratic senators was Sen. Angus King (I. ME). Jalonick, M. and Mascaro, L. (2025, November 9). Senate takes the first step toward ending the government shutdown. AP. https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-congress-trump-641e7e2324f261da72395b604d9540e8

[17] Thorp, F. (2025, November 9). Senators reach tentative deal to end the government shutdown. NBC News. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senators-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-the-government-shutdown/ar-AA1Q7fKr?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[18] Thorp, F. (2025, November 9). Senators reach tentative deal to end the government shutdown. NBC News. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senators-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-the-government-shutdown/ar-AA1Q7fKr?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[19] Pecorin, A. (2025, November 9). Enough Senate Democrats vote with Republicans to break government shutdown impasse. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrats-expected-vote-republicans-end-shutdown-sources/story?id=127361326 and Becket, S. and Hubbard, K. (2025, November 11). Here's what's in the Senate deal that would end the government shutdown. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-senate-deal/?intcid=CNR-01-0623

[20] Shoaib, A. (2025, November 10). Is the government shutdown over? What happens next after Democrats cave. Newsweek. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/is-the-government-shutdown-over-what-happens-next-after-democrats-cave/ar-AA1Q853c?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[21] Parry, H., Birsel, R., and Plummer, K. (2025, November 2025). Government Shutdown Status Live Updates: Senate Begins Vote, Johnson Won't Commit to ACA Ballot. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/government-shutdown-vote-opening-aca-johnson-live-updates-11025369

[22] Popli, N. (2025, November 12). Government Shutdown: House Sends Spending Bill to Trump. TIME. https://time.com/7333543/government-shutdown-over/

The six Democrats that voted for the bill were: Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Adam Gray, (D-CA), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Don Davis (D-NC), Henry Cuellar (D-TX, and Tom Suozzi (D-NY). Yilek, C. (2025, November 12). 6 Democrats vote yes on funding bill, 2 Republicans vote no. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-house-vote-senate-deal-trump/

[23] Yilek, C. (2025, November 12). 6 Democrats vote yes on funding bill, 2 Republicans vote no. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-house-vote-senate-deal-trump/ The two Republicans who voted against the bill were Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL). Id.

[24] Government Shutdowns Q&A: Everything You Should Know. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. https://www.crfb.org/papers/government-shutdowns-qa-everything-you-should-know#whatisashutdown

[25] Blake, S. (2025, Oct. 14). Medicare update: Open enrollment starts this week amid government shutdown. Newsweek. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/medicare-update-open-enrollment-starts-this-week-amid-government-shutdown/ar-AA1OoDUS?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[26] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2025, September 25). FY 2026 Lapse Plan Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/fy-2026-cms-contingency-staffing-plan/index.html

[27] In terms of the focus of this webinar (which was since cancelled as noted above), CMS’s notice stated as follows: “CMS will be hosting a WCMSA Reporting Webinar. The intent of this webinar is to review the WCMSA reporting process that was implemented this past April, as well as to discuss, from CMS’s perspective, some of the issues encountered as well as WCMSA reporting best practices. As parties impacted by the WCMSA reporting, we also welcome anyone else involved in the submission and administration of WCMSAs, including attorneys and Medicare beneficiaries, to join. Please bear in mind that this Webinar is intended to broadly address the WCMSA reporting process, so questions regarding specific cases are not appropriate for this setting.” See, https://www.verisk.com/4a5d50/siteassets/iso-claims-partners/blog-material/wcmsa-reporting-webinar-annoucement.pdf.

[28] Hubbard, Kaia, et al. (2025, September 29). Government shutdown looms as leaders make little progress at White House meeting with Trump. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/government-shutdown-latest-trump-congress-white-house/

[29] Lopez, L. (2025, April 10). Shutdown limits Social Security benefit verification letters. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2025/10/10/nx-s1-5566395/social-security-shutdown-benefit-verification-letters and Lebowitz, M. and Murphy, J. (2025, November 11). Government shutdown key dates: SNAP, ACA, Social Security, museums, veterans affairs, WIC and more. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/government-shutdown-key-dates-social-security-wic-smithsonian-museums-rcna235198