When will the US government shutdown end – and why did it happen?

A deal aimed at ending the US government shutdown has passed the Senate, raising hopes that the budget stand-off between Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress could be coming to an end.

The ongoing shutdown is the longest on record. Until it is officially over, many – but not all – US government services are temporarily suspended, and around 1.4 million federal employees are on unpaid leave or working without pay.

Although budget confrontations are common in US politics, this one has been especially tense because President Donald Trump began drastically reducing the size of the national government as soon as he returned to office in January, and has threatened to use the current impasse to make further cuts.

Republicans and Democrats could not agree to pass a bill funding government services past 1 October, when the previous federal budget expired.

In the US system, Congress must approve a spending plan to send to the president to be signed into law.

Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress. But in the Senate – or upper chamber – they are short of the 60 votes needed to pass the spending bill, which gives opposition Democrats some negotiating power.

Democrats wanted the bill to include an extension of expiring tax credits that make health insurance cheaper for millions of Americans and a reversal of Trump’s cuts to Medicaid, a government healthcare programme used by millions of elderly, disabled and low-income people. They also opposed spending cuts to government health agencies.

A stopgap bill designed to avoid the shutdown was passed in the House, or lower chamber, but did not clear the Senate. And so on 1 October, the US government shut down for the first time in nearly seven years.

On 5 November, the stoppage entered its 36th day, eclipsing the 35-day shutdown which happened during Trump’s first presidential term in 2018/2019.

Ending the shutdown requires the two parties in the Senate to find a compromise that Trump will sign, which they spent weeks failing to do.

A deal aimed at ending the shutdown finally passed the Senate on 9 November, paving the way for the record-breaking impasse to come to an end.

It followed a weekend of negotiations in Washington, after which a minority of Democrats joined with Republicans and voted in favour of an agreement.

Republicans – who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate – needed the measure to clear a 60-vote minimum threshold.

The vote is only a procedural first step, meaning that there is no date set for the reopening of the government.

The deal will need to clear several more hurdles – including a vote from the House of Representatives – before federal employees and services return. But it was viewed as the first serious sign of progress after 40 days of deadlock.

The deal includes an agreement for a vote in December on extending healthcare subsidies that are due to expire this year – a key issue Democrats had been holding out for concessions on.

But the compromise legislation only funds most government operations until the end of January 2026 – at which point, Congress might find itself back where it was when government funding ran out at the end of September.

Not all aspects of government stop during a shutdown. Services deemed essential continue as normal, but most staff are not paid until the government reopens.

Border protection and law enforcement staff, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and in-hospital medical care workers are expected to operate as usual.

Social Security and Medicare cheques are still being distributed, although benefit verification and card issuance work may be interrupted.

Mail is still being delivered and post offices are open because the US Postal Service does not depend on Congress for funding.

Members of Congress are still being paid, a convention that has been criticised by some politicians.

On the other hand, many flights have been cancelled or delayed because of a shortage of air traffic controllers, who are also expected to work without pay.

The Transportation Department has announced the cancellation of thousands of flights at 40 airports across the country, citing controller fatigue. The air traffic reduction is expected reach 10% of all domestic flights and has already led to chaos and panic at airports for many travellers ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel season.

Meanwhile, thousands of government employees deemed non-essential have been furloughed – temporarily put on unpaid leave.

US troops were on track to not be paid in mid-October until the Trump administration identified funds to pay them. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson warned this was a “temporary fix” and future payments may not be made.

Money for Snap (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), commonly known as “food stamps”, has also run out and been subject to a legal battle. Some 41 million Americans are enrolled in this scheme.

The deal passed in the US Senate on 9 November, which still has some hurdles to clear, would guarantee funding for the programme until September 2026.

Services like federally funded pre-schools and institutions like the Smithsonian museums have been reduced or closed.

Some major national parks and monuments across the country have closed, including Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay Area and the interior of the Washington Monument.

In the past, lengthy government shutdowns were seen as politically dangerous to lawmakers and the current occupant of the White House, as they disrupted voters’ everyday lives.

However, this time, the White House has appeared more than happy to shutter large parts of the US government for an extended period. Trump has threatened to break with the past practice of returning government operations to normal, bringing spending back to previous levels, and paying workers retroactively for the shutdown.

Since January, his administration has already slashed government spending and sacked many federal workers, testing the boundaries of presidential power. He has sought to permanently fire “non-essential” workers during the shutdown.

“We’ll be laying off a lot of people,” Trump said on 30 September, the day before the shutdown began.

Earlier in October, the administration’s attempt to lay off about 4,000 workers was temporarily blocked by a federal judge, but the White House is appealing against the ruling.

The administration has also warned that furloughed “non-essential” workers may not receive their unpaid salary after the shutdown finishes.

But the deal passed in the US Senate on 9 November – which must still clear the House of Representatives and receive Trump’s signature – would guarantee that all federal workers will be paid for time during the shutdown.

The impact of government shutdowns on the economy is typically limited and temporary – similar to the disruption caused by a hurricane or major storm.

But it still causes problems. Approvals for loans and permits are delayed, as are reviews of potential stock listings.

By one estimate, $800m (£614m) in new federal contracts are not being awarded each day. Unlike government employees, contractors do not receive back pay once the shutdown ends, and many of the companies are small businesses without other big clients.

Overall, analysts estimate this shutdown will knock roughly 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points off economic growth for each week that it continues – about $15bn a week.

But those losses threaten to become more substantial – and harder to make up – the longer the shutdown lasts. Analysts are worried the shutdown could hurt shopping and spending during the key holiday months of November and December.

There are also new possible economic factors in this shutdown, as Trump moves to fire workers or deny them backpay and cancels federally funded projects – all of which could extend or deepen any hit to the economy.

Meanwhile, the suspension of key releases of economic data, like the monthly jobs report, has added to uncertainty. Without basic information about how the country is faring, policymakers could be at risk of committing grave errors.

Shutdowns over budgets are a unique aspect of US politics.

They have become quite common over the past 50 years – with three taking place during Trump’s first presidential term.

The last shutdown, which began in late December 2018, was brought about by disagreements over funding a wall on the Mexico border.

It finally ended in part because large numbers of air traffic controllers, who had been working for a month without pay, began calling in sick, as has started to happen during the current shutdown.

At the time, flight disruption quickly spread, and the shutdown came to an end shortly afterwards.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the 2018-2019 shutdown reduced economic output by about $11bn, including $3bn that it never regained.

But shutdowns pre-date Trump.

The Republican Ronald Reagan oversaw eight shutdowns during his presidency in the 1980s – though all were relatively brief.

Former Democrat President Bill Clinton had a 21-day shutdown in 1995, while his fellow Democrat Barack Obama had a 16-day shutdown in 2013.

Do you have questions about the US government shutdown? Or are you a federal worker affected by the current situation? Get in touch via this form or by emailing bbcyourvoice@bbc.co.uk