Government Shutdown Begins; Military Payroll Suspended for 2.1 Million Service Members

The federal government entered a shutdown at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2025, after Congress failed to pass either a full-year appropriation or a continuing resolution before the fiscal year deadline. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) immediately suspended scheduled military payroll disbursements for approximately 2.1 million active-duty service members, citing the Anti-Deficiency Act (31 U.S.C. § 1341), which bars Treasury from obligating or disbursing funds without a congressional appropriation. The shutdown affected the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard simultaneously — the first time since 2019 that military pay was disrupted. Roughly 800,000 federal civilian DOD employees were either furloughed or required to continue working without pay under 31 U.S.C. § 1342.