In October a government shutdown occurred which is still ongoing affecting people and businesses. A shut down in the government means that Congress failed to resolve a problem. The effects of the shutdown are  federal workers being fire or unpaid.When the government opens the federal workers will get a retroactive pay. A retroactive pay means that the workers will get extra income to correct previous underpayment. Public places can also be closed during a shutdown like federal buildings, public museums, and visitor centers.

  A disagreement on funding in Congress that did not get resolved by the Congress deadline. The last time the US had a shutdown was in December 2018. The shutdown was due to expanding borders, and it lasted 35 days. The government resolved the 2018 shutdown by passing a short term funding bill to help get workers back to there jobs. The longest shutdown was in 2018 but since then the 2025 shutdown has now been the longest.

One of the areas that is affected is national parks. The US is home to 63 national parks. National parks have thousands of people that flock to see the breathtaking sights. National parks rely on park rangers to help educate visitors, collect entry fees, and maintaining safety for visitors and wildlife. During the last shut down national parks lost millions of dollars due to being closed. They are closed because of the reduced staff in the park the workers. National parks won’t be the only ones affected since neighboring cities will also lose sales from the fewer crowds who see the parks. Hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, and souvenir shops will lose money from the shutdown as well.