Overview

• Congress failed to pass stopgap funding, triggering an Oct. 1 shutdown as agencies executed contingency plans, furloughed employees, and required some essential staff to work without pay.
• The Social Security Administration says retirement and SSI payments will arrive on time, though offices cannot issue benefit verification letters, replace Medicare cards, or correct earnings records, and the COLA announcement could be delayed if key inflation data are postponed.
• USDA guidance and advocates indicate SNAP benefits are expected to be issued for October but could face delays or disruption if the lapse stretches into November, while WIC has only about one to two weeks of funding absent new dollars.
• State and local responses are activating: Mississippi pledged to keep WIC operating with state support, Virginia officials warned of possible WIC interruptions, and food banks from Houston to Kansas City reported preparations for increased demand.
• Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed or working without pay; in California, unions sued to block planned reductions in force after White House officials signaled the administration would begin firing federal employees during the lapse.