Money & budgets
government shutdown
The lapse in operations when appropriations expire: agencies must halt non-excepted work and furlough employees until funding resumes.
In full
The Antideficiency Act forbids spending without an appropriation, so a funding lapse forces agencies to wind down. Activities protecting life and property continue, and employees deemed 'excepted' work unpaid (with back pay guaranteed by a 2019 law), but most services pause. Shutdowns end the only way they can: Congress passes, and the President signs, new funding.
Also written as: furlough, antideficiency act
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.