For most of September, Congress was focused on considering a budget for 2014 before the 2013 fiscal year ended on September 30th. Congress, however, has failed to pass a budget or a Continuing Resolution (CR) and so all non-essential government services are shutting down, and thousands of non-essential government employees, including those at the National Science Foundation, the Department of the Interior, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and NASA, are being furloughed.  

Most members of Congress had hoped for a Continuing Resolution, which would have continued to fund the government at current levels for a few months. This would have given members of Congress more time to come to a consensus on the overall budget. However, both chambers of the government volleyed opposing Continuing Resolutions late into the night on September 30th, ultimately reaching the deadline at 12:00am on Tuesday, October 1, without agreement. On September 30, the Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed three short-term CRs such as H.J.Res. 59, which would have funded the federal government through December, but would also have defunded or delayed President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Democrat-controlled Senate passed bills to establish a “clean” CR with no conditions attached and refused to approve the House proposals that defunded or delayed the President’s flagship healthcare law. Therefore, for now, the two chambers have reached a stalemate and the government officially begins its orderly shutdown this morning.

As Congress struggles to resolve the FY 2014 impasse, the next budget battle looms: the government is projected to reach its borrowing limit on October 17.

Any bill to fund the government has to be agreed on by both chambers and signed by the President in order to reverse the government shutdown.

Sources: The Government Printing Office, the House of Representatives