Oct 1, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; National Parks Service workers remove trash from around the Washington Monument on the first day of the federal government shutdown on October 1, 2025.
Marysville LEADS Head Start Assistant Teacher, Fernanda Duran, helps Harmony Scott with a puzzle designed to help her count during the end of class, Oct 7, 2025.

WASHINGTON ― The federal government shutdown is already one of the nation's longest at 21 days, with no end in sight, as Democrats and Republicans in Congress remain locked in a bitter stalemate.

The shutdown has placed 750,000 federal workers on furlough, forced air traffic controllers and other essential workers to work without pay and closed national parks, federal offices and museums.

In an escalation from past shutdowns, President Donald Trump has also laid off thousands of government employees and paused infrastructure projects in Democratic-led cities to try to pressure Democrats to act.

Democrats continue to demand the extension of expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and the reversal of Republicans' recent Medicaid cuts be included in a funding measure to reopen the government. Republicans insist the government should reopen with a "clean bill" that keep spending levels the same.

A handful of Senate Democrats have broken with their party to vote for a Republican-backed bill to fund the government, but not enough of them to reach the 60-vote threshold to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

Here are key dates to watch as the shutdown marches on:

Oct. 22 ‒ Shutdown becomes second longest

The shutdown on Tuesday tied the 1995-1996 shutdown as the second longest in United States history. If the shutdown continues into Wednesday, Oct. 23, it would become the second longest at 22 days, trailing only the 35-day shutdown in 2017 during Trump's first term in office.

The 1995-95 shutdown, during the presidency of Bill Clinton, was sparked by spending disagreement between Clinton and Democrats and Republicans led by House Speaker Newt Gingrich. It was not a continuous shutdown, but rather two separate shutdowns from Nov. 14, 1995 to Nov. 19, 1995 and later Dec. 16, 1995 to Jan. 6, 1996.

Oct. 24 ‒ first full paychecks of federal workers missed

Federal workers are set to miss their first full paychecks on Friday, Oct. 24, if the government remains closed.

Depending on their agencies, federal workers' next paychecks are scheduled for Oct. 24, Oct. 28 or Oct. 30. In all, more than 1.8 million paychecks will be withheld from civilian employees of federal agencies if the shutdown lasts through October, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Federal workers received their Oct. 10 paychecks, but it was only their partial salaries because the pay period included three days of the shutdown, Oct. 1 to Oct. 4.

Oct. 25 ‒ Trump leaves for Asia

Trump is set to depart Washington on Saturday, Oct. 25 for a multi-day, multi-country visit to Asia.

That means if a deal to reopen the government is not reached by the weekend, then it would likely extend until Trump's return to the United States. Not only is Trump's involvement in negotiations widely seen as critical for a resolution, there's also a more practical consideration: Trump must sign any funding bill to end the shutdown.

It's unclear how long Trump will be out of the country, but the trip is expected to wrap up at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in South Korea, which is set for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. There, Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Oct. 31 ‒ Next paycheck for military members due

Members of the military received their Oct. 15 paychecks, but it is unclear whether the government has the money for their next paychecks on Oct. 31.

The nation's service members are considered essential workers who work without assurances of pay during shutdowns. The Department of War, at Trump's instruction, altered the Pentagon's budget to ensure they received their most recent paychecks on Oct. 15.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson said Trump’s action to pay the nation's 1.3 million active-duty military member on Oct. 15 was only a "temporary fix."

"If the Democrats continue to vote to keep the government closed, as they have done so now so many times, then we know that U.S. troops are going to risk missing a full paycheck at the end of this month," Johnson said last week.

Oct. 31 and Nov. 5 ‒ next checks for congressional staff

Staff members of U.S. senators missed their first paychecks on Monday, Oct. 20. They will miss their next checks, scheduled for Nov. 5, if the shutdown is still going on.

House aides are paid once a month and are at risk of missing their Oct. 31 paychecks.

Nov. 1 ‒ Open enrollment for Obamacare begins

Democrats have circled Nov. 1 as a key deadline for Congress to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act credits as part of a bill to reopen the government.

Nov. 1 is when open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare begins and millions of Americans will begin shopping for their 2026 health coverage plans.

If the subsidies are not extended by November, healthcare.gov consumers could experience sticker shock when they start searching for their health care plans. Premiums are expected to double for millions of Americans if the subsidies are not renewed, according to the research organization KFF.

Republicans have argued Democrats should vote to reopen the government now and then debate health care policy afterwards.

Nov. 1 ‒ Head Start funding at risk

Early childhood Head Start programs for low-income families will be at risk of disruptions if the government is not reopened by Nov. 1.

An additional 135 Head Start centers across 41 states would miss federal grant funding they would typically receive Nov. 1, jeopardizing services for about 65,000 children, according to the National Head Start Association.

Six Head Start programs serving about 6,500 children are already operating without federal funding after missing grant dollars on Oct. 1, the first day of the shutdown.

Nov. 5 ‒ Record for longest shutdown

If the shutdown lasts until Nov. 5, it will break the record for the federal government's longest shutdown.

That feat currently belongs to the 2018-2019 shutdown during Trump's first presidency in which Republicans and Democrats battled over funding Trump's border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Nov. 21 ‒ Thanksgiving travel begins before the holiday

Congress could face increasing pressure to reopen the government by Friday, Nov. 21, when traveling starts to spike before the Nov. 27 Thanksgiving holiday.

Like other essential government workers, some 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers have worked during the government shutdown without pay.

In 2019, during the 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports. Authorities were forced to slow air traffic in New York and Washington, which put pressure on lawmakers to quickly end the standoff.

Nov. 24 ‒ Holiday break for lawmakers

Members of Congress could also be motivated to reopen the government before their weeklong Thanksgiving vacations begin on Nov. 24.

But if the shutdown continues beyond the nation's turkey and football holiday, then lawmakers are scheduled to return to Washington to work for the first three weeks of December.

Contributing: Zach Wichter of USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 10 key dates to watch as government shutdown nears record length

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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