White House declares imminent government shutdown after Senate fails to pass funding bill

The White House has officially declared an imminent government shutdown after the Senate failed to pass a GOP-backed spending bill to keep federal agencies funded through Nov. 21.

A memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said current federal funding levels “expire at 11:59 p.m. tonight.”

“Unfortunately, Democrat senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate due to Democrats’ insane policy demands, which include $1 trillion in new spending,” the memo said.

The memo went on to say that President Donald Trump is supportive of the GOP-led funding bill, which is a short-term extension of current federal spending levels called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at keeping the government funded for seven weeks as lawmakers work on a deal for fiscal year (FY) 2026 priorities.

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“But it is now clear that Democrats will prevent passage of this clean CR prior to 11:59 p.m. tonight and force a government shutdown. As such, affected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown,” the memo said.

“It is unclear how long Democrats will maintain their untenable posture, making the duration of the shutdown difficult to predict. Regardless, employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities.”

OMB said a follow-up memo would be issued when a spending bill is passed and signed into law by Trump, resuming full federal operations.

The GOP-led CR was tanked in the Senate on Tuesday evening, failing to reach the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster and proceed with debate on the bill. The vote fell 55–45, with three members of the Democratic caucus crossing the aisle and voting with Republicans.

One Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the measure.

Democratic lawmakers in the upper chamber, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., banded together to vote against the GOP’s CR, a move that marked the second time Democrats impeded the legislation’s progress this month.

Democrats also tried to advance their own counter-proposal, but that bill was similarly blocked by Senate Republicans.

“All it takes is a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding bill that’s in front of us,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said after the vote failed. “And I hope, I really hope that some of them will join us to reopen the government, resume bipartisan appropriations work, and get back to the business of the American people.”

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Thune said there would be more votes on the same bill in the coming days.

When asked if Schumer would guarantee that the GOP’s CR wouldn’t get 60 votes, he said, “Look, the bottom line is, as I said, our guarantee is to the American people that we’re going to fight as hard as we can for their health care. Plain and simple.“

The Democrat-led CR would have kept the government open and funded through Oct. 31, while also including a host of priorities that Republicans deemed hyper-partisan.

Democrats’ funding plan would have repealed the Medicaid rollbacks made in Republicans’ One Big, Beautiful Bill, while restoring funding for NPR and PBS that was cut by the Trump administration earlier this year.

Trump and his administration have wide discretion over what changes occur during a shutdown.

However, it’s likely that thousands of government employees get furloughed, while others are made to work without paychecks until funding is re-instituted. A host of federal agencies and services could also be shuttered.

Some federal workers could lose their jobs permanently as well, with OMB Director Russ Vought issuing guidance earlier this month warning offices to consider plans for mass layoffs in the event of a shutdown.

The move comes after the top two Democrats and top two Republicans in the House and Senate all met with Trump at the White House to discuss a path forward on federal funding, but that meeting ended with no deal in sight.