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East County News ServicesNov. 8, 2025 (San Diego County) -- The longest federal government shutdown in the history of the United States continues to impact millions of Americans. The 2025 government shutdown reached 35 days on Nov. 5, eclipsing a 34-day shutdown in 2018–19 for the longest in U.S. history.
The shutdown started when the previous budget expired at the onset of the fiscal year on Oct. 1. Members of Congress have been unable to pass a continuing resolution to reopen operations.
House Republicans and Democrats each proposed budget resolutions prior to the shutdown, but both were voted down in the Senate.
The Republican-sponsored bill would have funded the government until Nov. 21, keeping most program spending at 2025 levels while extending some health and veterans services programs.
The Democratic-sponsored bill featured healthcare provisions, including an extension of the pandemic-era premium tax credit expansion, that would raise both the number of people with insurance and the federal deficit. It also included provisions limiting the White House’s control over appropriated funding.
Both bills would have increased funding for security for government officials.
The economic impact of the U.S. government shutdown is far worse than expected, but the U.S. economy is likely to rebound quickly once it ends, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett toldd Fox Business Network on Friday.
Construction projects are starting to slow town and travel is suffering, Hassett told Fox Business Network.
CNN reports that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters that the “wheels came off” in compromise talks with Democrats. He told senators to remain in Washington and available for votes this weekend. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would agree to end the shutdown in exchange for one more year of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies — an attempt to further pressure the GOP to make a deal.
The uncertainty over when the shutdown might end has led to deepening concerns about damage it could do to the overall economy — with one of Trump’s top economic officials sounding the alarm on Friday. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Fox Bueinss that the economic impact of the shutdown is “far worse” than initially expected “because it’s gone on for so long.”
“If we go another month or so, then who knows how bad the economy could be this quarter,” he said.
Starting Friday, 40 of the busiest airports in the U.S. have started to see a 10% reduction in domestic flights after the Federal Aviation Administration announced it is forcing airlines to cut back due to pressure on air traffic controllers during the shutdown,
The shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, has forced about 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay.
Delta, for example, has sent a note to travelers that it is temporarily reduing flights at 40 airports to comply with federal directives. The note said that planned FAA-directed cancellations have been completed hrough Nov. 10, and suggested travelers check their flight status or explore options to change or cancel flights without penalty.
"In response to the capacity restrictions caused by the FAA Directive, travel to, from or through (various) destinations may be affected," the note from Delta said, and then listed affected cities, including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Miami and Seattle.
Related, federal layoffs continue a trend of reduction in the size of the federal workforce. The workforce has decreased by about 3.2% from a recent peak of 3.06 million in January to a preliminary figure of 2.92 million in August. Federal government jobs comprise about 1.8% of the nation’s nonfarm jobs.
The White House has a government shutdown clock with more details here.
with further cuts slated for the weekend due to air traffic controller staffing issues.
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