WASHINGTON: US government services will be disrupted until President Donald Trump and Congress agree on a spending deal.

Federal agencies have ordered hundreds of thousands of federal employees not to work, deeming them not essential to protecting people and property.

This shutdown, opens new tab is different from past government closures because Trump has threatened to lay off more federal workers if lawmakers do not pass legislation to avert the closures. His administration had not outlined what cuts to expect as of Wednesday morning.

“We will be looking for opportunities” to reduce the size of the federal government, said White House budget director Russ Vought in a television interview on Tuesday.

Here is a guide to what will stay open and what will close in this government shutdown, according to details federal agencies released so far:

When and why did the government shut down? 

Congress writes detailed spending legislation for most US government agencies each year, but rarely finishes before the fiscal year starts on October 1. Lawmakers typically pass stopgap spending bills to avoid disruption for several weeks or months while they finish their work.

The current stopgap bill expired on September 30. Republicans and Democrats have not reached an agreement on an extension. Wide swaths of the government lack funds to continue their operations.

What happens to social security, medicare and medicaid?  

The Social Security Administration will keep issuing retirement and disability benefits, but will furlough 12% of its staff and pause marketing campaigns, according to the agency’s shutdown plan.

Payments will likewise continue under the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs.

Will food aid be continued under SNAP and WIC?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation’s largest food aid program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, will continue operations during a shutdown as funds allow, according to a shutdown planning document published by the US Department of Agriculture.

Does the mail get delivered? 

The US Postal Service will be unaffected because it does not depend on Congress for funding, USPS said in a statement. Post offices will be open.

What does a shutdown mean for interal revenue service? 

The IRS will be fully staffed for five days, according to agency shutdown plans published Monday.

The strategy does not say what the IRS, which lost about a quarter of its staff this year and now employs about 75,000 people, will do if the shutdown lasts longer than five business days. An agency spokesperson declined to comment.

What about the airports? 

More than 13,000 air traffic controllers will continue working without pay until the shutdown ends, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Most TSA employees will continue working, according to an agency statement.

Will federal courts be fully operational? 

The federal judiciary warned that the courts could run out of money to fully sustain operations after Oct. 17.

That is a shift. When the government shut down during Trump’s first term, the courts sustained operations for five weeks.

What does a shutdown mean for the military? 

The 2 million US military personnel will remain at their posts without pay until the shutdown ends, according to a Department of Defense statement.

National Guard forces Trump has deployed to US cities must also continue to work.

Contracts awarded before the shutdown will continue, and the department can place new orders for supplies or services needed to protect national security.

Trump in September ordered the department to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress.

How Does a government shutdown affect law enforcement? 

Agents at the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Coast Guard and other federal law enforcement agencies will remain on the job.

What happens to borders and homeland security? 

Justice Department staff that administer the immigration court system will largely stay on the job because Trump declared illegal immigration a national emergency, according to a department statement.

Employees that communicate with state and local officials about immigrant arrests will also keep working, according to the statement. Border patrol and immigration enforcement agents will stay at their posts, as would most customs officers, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s shutdown strategy.

Tariff collections will continue, according to the strategy.

Does a shutdown delay key economic data?

Publication, including employment and GDP reports of critical importance to policymakers and investors, will be suspended.

Does a government shutdown affect small businesses?  

The Small Business Administration will furlough 24% of its staff, according to a statement. It will not approve new loans for small businesses to buy equipment and upgrade buildings. Lending to help businesses recover from natural disasters will continue.

What happens if there is a natural disaster? 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has about $2.3 billion available in its Disaster Relief Fund, according to a September 15 report, meaning the agency should function if a hurricane or other natural disaster strikes. About 4,000 FEMA employees will be furloughed, according to an agency statement.

• Trump signs order to protect Qatar from foreign aggression
• US to regard “any armed attack” on Qatar as threat to Washington.
• Order comes after Israeli PM apologises to Qatar’s premier.
  

The United States will regard “any armed attack” on Qatari territory as a threat to Washington and will provide the Gulf Arab state with security guarantees, the White House said, after an Israeli strike on the country last month.

“In light of the continuing threats to the State of Qatar posed by foreign aggression, it is the policy of the United States to guarantee the security and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar against external attack,” said an Executive Order signed by US President Donald Trump.

In the event of an attack on Qatar, the United States will “take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability,” the order said.

The agreement comes after an Israeli strike on the key US regional ally on September 9, targeting officials from the Palestinian group Hamas who were discussing a US peace proposal for the war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Qatar’s prime minister from the White House on Monday, apologising for strikes and promising not to do so again, the United States said.

Netanyahu was in Washington to meet Trump, and had until then been defiant since ordering the September 9 strikes.

Qatar is a key US ally in the Gulf and hosts the largest US military base in the region at al-Udeid, which also includes a regional headquarters for elements of US Central Command.

WASHINGTON: A deep impasse between Republican President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats has triggered the 15th US government shutdown since 1981.

Here’s a look at what it will take to reopen the government.

What do Republicans want?

Trump’s Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and they have already scored big budget wins this year.

The massive legislation called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July, boosted spending for defence and immigration enforcement, rolled back spending on green energy and other Democratic priorities, while making major cuts in the Medicaid healthcare programme for low-income and disabled people to help pay for tax cuts focused mainly on the wealthy.

Republicans also have broadly supported the White House’s efforts to claw back money that had already been approved by Congress for foreign aid and public broadcasting, even though that undermines lawmakers’ constitutional authority over spending matters.

They have said they would vote for a continuing resolution that would extend funding at current levels through November 21 to allow more time to negotiate a full-year deal.

Democrats’ demands

As the minority party, Democrats do not have much power. However, Republicans will need at least seven Democratic votes to pass any spending bill out of the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber.

This time, Democrats are using that leverage to push for renewing expanded healthcare subsidies for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Their proposal would make permanent enhanced tax breaks that are otherwise due to expire at the end of the year and make them available to more middle-income households.

If those tax breaks are allowed to expire, health insurance costs will increase dramatically for many of the 24 million Americans who get their coverage through the ACA, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

The impact would be most acute in Republican-controlled states that have not expanded the Medicaid health plan for the poor.

Democrats also want language inserted into any funding bill that would prohibit Trump from unilaterally ignoring their ACA provisions or temporarily withholding funds.

They also want to roll back other restrictions on ACA coverage that were enacted in the “One Big Beautiful Bill”.

Those changes would provide health coverage for seven million Americans by 2035, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, but also increase government healthcare spending by $662 billion over 10 years.

Republicans say they are open to considering a fix for the expiring tax breaks, but say the issue should be handled separately and it was unclear whether their “fix” would differ substantially from the Democrats’.

Republicans have accused Democrats of trying to use the stopgap funding bill to open the gates for government healthcare subsidies for immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Congressional Democrats argue that group of people living in the US is prohibited by law from receiving such help and that their legislation would not change that