As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history drags on, its effects are reaching far beyond Washington. The crisis is throwing a wrench into drone operations across the board. From the FAA’s halted drone approvals to grounded wildfire surveillance and Pentagon programs stuck in limbo, the shutdown’s ripple effects are everywhere.

If you’re involved with drones in any way, you’re probably feeling the impact. Across neighbourhoods, cities, and even military testing grounds, the skies are growing quieter. And this has ramifications.

FAA’s Drone Progress Hits Pause 

When the federal funding dried up on October 1, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) went into partial hibernation – and unfortunately, much of its drone-related work was deemed “non-essential.” About 11,000 FAA employees (out of roughly 45,000) have been furloughed without pay, leaving a skeleton crew to handle only immediate safety tasks. 

What does that mean for you as a drone operator? Expect delays. 

The FAA’s forward-looking initiatives – the stuff that paves the way for more advanced drone use – are largely on hold.

Waivers and Approvals Stuck in the Queue

If you’ve been waiting on an FAA waiver or special authorization, you’re not alone. 

Part 107 waivers (for flying at night, over people, beyond visual line of sight, etc.) and other exemptions are the lifeblood of many commercial drone operations. During the shutdown, the online waiver portal is technically still open for submissions, but most of the staff who normally process those requests are furloughed. 

You can hit “submit,” but your application will likely sit in a growing queue. Only truly safety-critical or emergency requests might get a look-in during this period.

This slowdown is causing real headaches. 

Companies that use drones for infrastructure inspections, mapping projects, or agricultural surveys are finding their plans in limbo. A project that depended on a timely FAA waiver now faces uncertainty. And if you’re a public safety official – say a fire department UAV team needing urgent airspace authorization – you could experience frustrating delays when minutes count. Each day the FAA’s hands are tied, the backlog of pending approvals piles up higher, meaning even after funding is restored, the agency will be digging out for a while.

Government Shutdown 2025 Puts BVLOS Rulemaking on Ice

Perhaps the biggest long-term impact is the freeze on rulemaking for drones. 

The industry has been eagerly awaiting the FAA’s new Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) regulations – a framework that would finally allow routine longer-range drone flights (think package deliveries, long pipeline inspections, etc.) without needing special waivers each time. 

Before the shutdown, the FAA was knee-deep in analyzing over 3,000 public comments on its proposed BVLOS rule (sometimes called Part 108). That work has slammed to a halt. Rulemaking isn’t classified as an essential activity during a funding lapse, so the team crafting the BVLOS standards has packed up and gone home until further notice.

For the drone industry, this is a big blow. The BVLOS rule was seen as the key to unlocking massive growth. Many drone companies have been developing technology and business models on the assumption that BVLOS operations would soon be broadly legal. Now, with the FAA’s analysts off the job, the BVLOS timeline is slipping further into the unknown. 

A delay of a few months might not sound like much, but for startups and investors, uncertainty like this can chill momentum. It’s hard to plan for the future when the rulebook is being written in slow motion. This could slow down investment and testing plans across the sector. 

Remote ID and Other Programs: Who’s Minding the Store?

Remember Remote ID, the “license plate for drones” that the FAA has been phasing in? Drone pilots are expected to broadcast an ID signal so authorities can identify airborne drones. The enforcement of Remote ID rules is another grey area during the shutdown. 

Source: FAA

With FAA enforcement staff largely out and the UAS Support Center closed for the duration of the funding lapse, there’s arguably less muscle behind the mandate. Pilots are still required to comply, but if nobody’s around to answer the phone at the FAA or follow up on violations, the rule’s bite is weakened for now. 

Don’t take this as an excuse to ignore Remote ID requirements, though. Once the FAA’s back, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of compliance.

Hobbyists are feeling some effects too. The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) noted that FAA staff handling things like FAA-Recognized Identification Areas (FRIAs) – those designated fields where you can fly without Remote ID – have likely been furloughed. Airspace authorizations for model events and altitude waivers are also delayed, with pending applications likely seeing longer review times. If you’re an RC club waiting for your flying field to get FRIA approval or a special airspace clearance, you might be waiting until Washington gets its act together. The AMA reassured hobbyists that aside from paperwork slowdowns, day-to-day recreational flying shouldn’t be heavily impacted – just keep safety first and obey the rules you know.

Meanwhile, some FAA drone initiatives not directly tied to immediate safety are flat-out stalled. Plans to modernize air traffic systems (including Uncrewed Traffic Management for drones) have been shelved until funding resumes. The FAA had a modernization push in progress – even the U.S. Transportation Secretary had grand plans this year to “unlock the future of air travel” with new systems for both crewed and uncrewed aircraft. Now, those contracts are on hold and technical teams are sitting at home. 

It’s a bit ironic: we were on the cusp of some cutting-edge integrations of drones into the national airspace, and now it feels like we’ve been forced to hit the pause button on the whole endeavor.

Everyone from security experts to drone industry groups immediately sounded the alarm. 

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) blasted Congress for failing to reauthorize these counter-UAS powers, saying it “increases the risks posed by drones operated by malicious actors”. AUVSI pointed out that now our critical infrastructure is more vulnerable at a time when drone threats (from careless hobbyists and criminals) are only growing. 

It’s not an abstract worry – we’ve seen drones used for everything from smuggling contraband to surveilling sensitive facilities. Losing this authority is, frankly, unacceptable and baffling.

What makes it worse is that everyone actually agrees on the need for counter-drone measures – it’s one of those rare bipartisan areas of concern. In fact, just weeks before the shutdown, a coalition of law enforcement agencies and even state governors were pleading with Congress to expand drone mitigation authority to local police, not just feds. Yet Congress, in its gridlock glory, let the existing authority lapse during the shutdown. It’s a classic case of the shutdown shooting us in the foot on national security. 

As of this writing, lawmakers were scrambling afterwards to pass an extension and fix this blunder: S.3032 — the Counter-UAS Authority Extension Act, to extend DHS/DOJ counter-drone mitigation authority from September 30, 2025 to September 30, 2028.

But for a period of time, the very people tasked with stopping a dangerous drone had to just watch it, radio in “pretty please” to local police, and hope for the best. Talk about unnerving.

(If you’re wondering, what would happen if, say, a drone was imminently threatening lives during that gap? In reality, authorities might act anyway and sort out legalities later – but it’s not a great spot to be in. Fortunately, we didn’t see a major incident during that window.)

Border Patrol and Other DHS Drone Ops

DHS is a big umbrella. What about its day-to-day drone operations? For instance, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) flies large Predator-style drones along the borders to watch for smugglers and migrant crossings. Those missions are considered part of law enforcement and national security, so CBP’s drone pilots were kept on the job as “excepted” employees. 

In past shutdowns, Border Patrol agents (and by extension, their drone units) kept working without pay – and the same was true in 2025. So the border drones didn’t get grounded. However, the folks operating them likely missed paychecks, which does wonders for morale (cue eye-roll). Additionally, if maintenance contracts or new technology upgrades were in the pipeline for CBP’s drone fleet, those would be delayed until after the shutdown.

Another slice of DHS is the Coast Guard, which has been experimenting with small drones for search-and-rescue and monitoring the vast coastal waters. 

The Coast Guard famously is the only military branch that lives in DHS (in peacetime) and it often bears the brunt in a shutdown – active-duty Coasties had to work without pay during this period. Their drone trials and non-critical missions likely faced slowdowns. A rescue mission, of course, would go on as normal (drones and all, if they help). But demonstrations or new procurements of Coast Guard drones might have been shelved temporarily.

Here is a mission post about an AMO aircrew interdicting a smuggling vessel, showing flight ops continue unabated during the shutdown window:

FEMA: Disaster Response with a Side of Uncertainty

FEMA is technically part of DHS, but it’s worth examining on its own because it deals with life-and-death emergencies. Good news: FEMA continues to respond to disasters during a shutdown – you won’t see FEMA crews abandoning a hurricane response because of political bickering. In fact, about 84% of FEMA employees were exempt from furloughs during this shutdown. Disaster response and recovery are considered essential (imagine the outcry otherwise).

That means if a big hurricane had struck in October 2025, FEMA’s drone teams (yes, FEMA has used drones for things like damage assessment and search-and-rescue coordination) would still be out there flying. In recent years, FEMA’s embraced drones to get quick eyes on disaster scenes – for example, sending up UAVs to map flooded areas or collapsed buildings to direct resources. Those kinds of activities continue under existing disaster declarations.

However, FEMA wasn’t left totally unscathed. The agency warned state emergency managers that while ongoing disaster work would be supported, new grants or programs might be delayed. Specifically, if a new disaster happened, getting it formally declared and funded could be tricky. Officials from California noted that FEMA told them they’d continue paying for disasters already declared by the President (which in 2025 meant President Trump, as odd as it sounds) – but there’s no guarantee on new declarations or additional funding until the government reopens. That’s a bit scary if you’re hit with an unexpected crisis in the middle of the shutdown. You might have had to rely on state funds or wait in line.

It’s a sobering thought that even as people were picking up the pieces from summer wildfires and storms, the agency helping them had to worry about its budget.

Local Police & Fire Departments: Grant-Funded Drones in Limbo

Let’s bring it down to the local level, where a lot of the real action happens. In the past decade, police, fire, and rescue departments across the country have been adopting drones enthusiastically. Often, they buy that shiny new search-and-rescue drone or set up a “drone as first responder” program with help from federal grants. Those could be homeland security grants, disaster preparedness grants, or specialized programs like the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Byrne Justice grants for law enforcement. So, what happens to those in a shutdown? You guessed it: they hit a wall.

One immediate effect of the shutdown was that it blocked access to critical grants” for municipal fire and EMS departments. The International Association of Fire Chiefs and International Association of Fire Fighters jointly sounded the alarm that the ongoing shutdown was freezing programs like AFG and another called SAFER (which helps departments hire firefighters). If you’re a fire chief who was awarded, say, $30,000 in AFG money to purchase a new thermal imaging drone this fall, that check isn’t arriving during the shutdown. You might have even been counting on it to pay an invoice – now you’re in a holding pattern.

 IAFF General President Ed Kelly and IAFC President Trisha Wolford in a letter to the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives voiced this urgency.

jointiaff_iafc_letter_fy26shutdown Police departments saw similar hiccups. Many law enforcement agencies use federal grants for technology upgrades, including drones for tactical units or accident reconstruction teams. Those funds flow from the DOJ or DHS. During the shutdown, new grants weren’t awarded and even some already-approved funds weren’t disbursed. Essentially, the money spigot from DC to local public safety was turned off, unless it was previously obligated. Departments that wisely had other funding sources could bridge the gap; others had to delay planned purchases or training.

Consider local Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs – these are cutting-edge efforts where police drones are dispatched ahead of patrol cars to 911 calls, giving responders “eyes on scene” within minutes. DFR programs rely on close FAA coordination (for beyond-line-of-sight waivers or airspace permission) and often some federal grant support for equipment. The shutdown hits both of those: the FAA coordination is slower (as we covered) and any federal funding support is on pause. 

For example, if a DFR program needs a new FAA waiver to expand city-wide, that’s delayed. In cities where police are waiting on Homeland Security grant to buy additional drones or software, that’s now delayed too. For local agencies eager to innovate with drones, it feels like hitting a brick wall.

Say right around this time, the fire department in a small town (let’s call it Anytown, USA) was set to receive a federal grant to train its team on nighttime drone operations for search and rescue. Shutdown hits – the training program is postponed because the funding and any federal trainer support are in limbo. Or a sheriff’s office that finally has approval to spend a DHS grant on a counter-drone system to protect a big local festival (yes, those exist – smaller agencies are starting to worry about rogue drones at events). That purchase has to wait.

Local agencies also felt the pinch in softer ways. Many rely on federal resources like joint training exercises, federal experts’ advice, or data. For instance, FEMA and DOJ often host workshops on best practices for public safety drone use. Those likely got canceled or postponed. The FAA’s UAS Support Center – a help desk where anyone, including cops and firefighters, can call with drone questions – was closed during the shutdown (as noted on the FAA site). So if you were a local official trying to clarify some flight rule or get help registering a drone, you had one fewer lifeline.

It’s worth noting the human element too: morale. A lot of these local first responder drone programs exist because of passionate individuals who hustled to get grants and buy equipment. When Washington’s squabbles derail their progress, it’s deeply frustrating. Imagine telling your community “Sorry, we can’t start using our new lifesaving drone yet because the grant check is stuck in DC.” For communities that have seen what drones can do – find a lost child at night or give early wildfire warnings – these delays aren’t just paperwork, they’re tangible setbacks.

Military and Defense: Drone Programs on Hold, Contractors in Wait-and-See Mode

One may assume the Department of Defense (DoD) is immune to shutdowns. After all, national security is paramount, right? Well, yes and no. Active-duty military continued working (and uniformed folks got paid thanks to a quick bill from Congress, if you recall). Drone strikes didn’t stop, and surveillance drones still flew essential missions. But the research, development, and procurement of military drones – all the behind-the-scenes stuff to keep our arsenal cutting-edge – was definitely impacted. The shutdown essentially put many defense modernization efforts into slow-motion at a critical time for drone warfare.

The “Replicator” Initiative Stuck in Limbo

One of the Pentagon’s buzziest drone programs in recent years has been the Replicator initiative. If you haven’t heard of it, Replicator is an ambitious plan the DoD announced in 2023 to deploy thousands of autonomous, attritable (i.e. low-cost expendable) drones across multiple domains (air, land, sea) to counter threats like China. Think drone swarms that overwhelm an adversary – the stuff of military futurists’ dreams. The goal was to field “multiple thousands” by around 2025-2026 – a lightning-fast timeline by Pentagon standards.

Well, even before the shutdown, Replicator was facing headwinds. By August 2025, instead of thousands of drones out in the field, only a few hundreds had materialized, far short of targets, going by the Congressional Research Service. Technical glitches, integration problems, and cost overruns were slowing it down. The Pentagon was even restructuring who runs the program, handing it from an innovation unit over to a new dedicated group to try to salvage the effort.

Procurement Delays and an Anxious Defense Industry

Beyond Replicator, the broader defense drone procurement pipeline slowed to a crawl. The military has numerous drone programs – from big-ticket items like the MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based drones, to upgrades of Reapers, to experimental AI drone wingmen for fighter jets. During the shutdown, new contract awards were largely on hold. CEOs of major defense companies quietly (or not so quietly) told investors that while a short shutdown wouldn’t hurt immediate finances, a long one would cause delays to contract awards and start chipping away at revenue projections. Companies like Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, and smaller drone tech firms are in a holding pattern for new deals.

The longer the shutdown goes, the more it risks pushing 2025 milestones off schedule – possibly even affecting deliveries years down the line. Defense contractors noted that if the government reopened by mid-November, they could probably catch up by year’s end. But beyond that, real impacts would set in.

There’s also the impact on the Defense Department’s internal workflow .With the shutdown in place, many offices won’t move forward on key program decisions as quickly as usual. Take the B-21 bomber program, for instance. Although Congress had already authorized about $4.5 billion through earlier reconciliation legislation to boost production, the finer details — like how fast to ramp up manufacturing and when to start the acceleration — still required coordination between the Pentagon and the Air Force. Those planning discussions, however, have been held up by the shutdown, slowing the momentum on one of the Department’s biggest defense projects.

What about the drones in use by the military? Operations and maintenance of in-service equipment (including drones) continue since those are essential for national security. Pilots fly their missions, whether reconnaissance in the Middle East or monitoring in the Pacific. However, some training exercises might have to be scaled back if civilian support staff are furloughed. Also, smaller R&D efforts – say, a test of a new drone sensor at a U.S. base – might be postponed if the engineers were sent home during the funding lapse.

And spare a thought for the rank-and-file. Military personnel, unlike other federal employees, did get paid this time around (thanks to a quick “pay our troops” bill). But many civilian Defense Department employees and contractors did not. If you were, say, a civilian UAV pilot instructor or an analyst working on drone footage, you might have been furloughed or working unpaid. Morale in the Pentagon and defense community took a hit. One defense CEO called the situation “baffling,” noting how one part of the government (the DoD) pushes industry to move faster on innovation, then another part (Congress) fails to fund it. That frustration was widely shared.

A Self-Inflicted “Ground Stop” for Drones, Courtesy of Washington’s Stalemate

The ongoing government shutdown is proving one thing: when government grinds to a halt, so do many of the innovations and services people rely on — including drones. It’s unsettling to watch a political stalemate ripple outward, grounding local police drone programs, slowing critical wildfire prevention flights, and freezing the very regulations meant to make drone operations safer for everyone.

There’s a strong opinion shared by many in the aviation and public safety worlds (and I’ll echo it here): this kind of shutdown is a self-inflicted wound. It’s hard to integrate drones into society and develop new capabilities even in the best of times. Doing so with a fickle funding environment is like trying to build a skyscraper on quicksand. 

The Modern Skies Coalition – a group spanning airlines, drone groups, and more – called the shutdown’s impact on aviation “unacceptable”. They’re right. We shouldn’t tolerate a situation where air traffic controllers worry about pay, where drone rulemakers are benched during a critical period of growth, or where fire chiefs have to beg Congress to let them access grant money to keep their firefighters safe.

FAQs about the 2025 U.S. Government Shutdown

Q: What is a U.S. federal government shutdown?

A: A government shutdown happens when federal agencies run out of funding and must stop non-essential operations because Congress and the President fail to approve a budget or stopgap funding in time. In a shutdown, many government offices close and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed (placed on temporary unpaid leave). Essential services – like national security, air traffic control, and law enforcement – continue to operate, but often with employees working without pay until funding is restored. In short, the government partially “locks up” until lawmakers reach a funding agreement.

Q: When did the 2025 government shutdown start, and how long has it lasted?

A: The 2025 shutdown began at midnight on October 1, 2025, when the new fiscal year started without a funding law. As of early November 2025, it has dragged on for well over a month (38+ days), making it the longest shutdown in U.S. history. This surpassed the previous 35-day record from 2018-2019. The clock keeps ticking until Congress passes a funding bill, so every day adds to the record.

Q: Why did the federal government shut down in 2025?

A: The shutdown occurred because lawmakers could not agree on a spending bill, largely due to a dispute over health care funding. In 2025, the Republican-led House passed funding measures that did not extend certain Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance subsidies, which had temporarily lowered Obamacare plan costs. Senate Democrats refused to approve any budget that omitted these subsidies, since millions of Americans would face higher premiums once the extra help expired at the end of 2025. This standoff over whether to continue ACA insurance tax credits – along with broader partisan clashes over spending levels – prevented any budget deal by the Oct. 1 deadline. With no agreement in time, funding lapsed and the government shut down.

Q: Which government agencies and services are closed during the shutdown?

 A: Most “non-essential” programs are either closed or running with minimal staff. For example, research and public health agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have dramatically scaled back activities, with many staff furloughed. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) initially warned its funds would run out after a couple of weeks (though emergency funds were later found). National parks are largely unstaffed – park roads and trails stay open, but visitor centers and facilities are closed due to lack of staff. Most Smithsonian museums and other federal museums have also shut their doors to visitors. Basically, any federal service that isn’t related to immediate safety, security, or other exempted functions is on hold until the government reopens.

Q: Which government functions are still running during the shutdown?

 A: Essential services continue to operate, even without funding. This includes things like national security, law enforcement, and public safety. For instance, the military stays on duty, and federal law enforcement agents (FBI, Border Patrol, etc.) and correctional officers remain on the job. At airports, TSA security screenings and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control are operational so planes keep flying safely. Mandatory entitlement programs also keep going – benefits like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid continue to be paid out despite the shutdown. The Department of Defense (Pentagon) and agencies critical to protecting life and property continue working (often with skeletal crews). Anything deemed necessary to protect human life or national security is generally exempt from the shutdown, although employees in those roles may be working without pay for now.

Q: Will I still receive my Social Security or Medicare benefits during the shutdown?

A: Yes, you will. These benefits are funded through permanent entitlements, not the annual appropriations process, so payments continue no matter how long the shutdown lasts.  Social Security Administration offices have largely remained open to support core services, though some administrative tasks (like issuing new Medicare cards or updating records) might be delayed or unavailable until the government reopens. 

Q: What about food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC – are they affected?

A: Both programs are under real strain and are currently running on temporary emergency funding. SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) originally had enough reserves to keep benefits going only for a short time, and by late October many states were already warning families that their assistance could be delayed or reduced. To prevent an immediate lapse, the USDA shifted roughly $5 billion in emergency funds to issue about half of November’s SNAP benefits early. That move bought some time, but it didn’t solve the funding problem — it simply pushed it forward.

WIC, which provides nutritional support for low-income pregnant women, infants, and young children, was even closer to the edge. The program was projected to run out of available funds just two weeks into the shutdown. States and clinics were preparing to limit or pause new enrollments. In response, federal officials scrambled to reshuffle resources, eventually securing a temporary $450 million patch to keep WIC benefits flowing for now.

However, these are short-term solutions. If the shutdown continues, both SNAP and WIC could face deeper cuts or disruptions, and state governments may need to step in to prevent families from losing access to food assistance. For millions of households, that would mean longer wait times, reduced benefit amounts, or uncertainty about whether benefits will even arrive next month.

Q: Are national parks and museums open during the shutdown?

A: Most national parks remain physically accessible, but services are extremely limited. The National Park Service has furloughed over 60% of its staff, which means that while you can generally still hike trails, drive through scenic routes, and visit outdoor monuments, the experience will feel very different. Visitor centers, educational programs, guided tours, and most campgrounds are closed, and many parks have no staff on hand to provide help or answer questions. A small number of law enforcement and emergency personnel remain for critical safety needs, but you are largely on your own when it comes to navigation, supplies, and safety. Some parks that usually collect entrance fees have been allowed to use fee funds to handle basic upkeep like trash removal or occasional restroom cleaning, but parks without those funds may have closed restrooms, overflowing bins, and no maintenance at all. If you go, bring your own water, food, and first aid.

Federal museums, on the other hand, are fully closed until funding returns. This includes all Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., as well as major federally funded galleries and research centers. Historic sites and indoor attractions operated by federal agencies have posted closure notices and will not reopen until the shutdown ends. So if you were planning a museum trip, expect locked doors and dark exhibit halls until government funding is restored.

Q: Can I still get a passport or visa during the shutdown?

A: Yes – passport and visa processing is continuing, but you might experience delays. The U.S. State Department has said its consular operations (including passports and visas) will remain operational as long as fee revenues support them. These services are funded by the application fees you pay, so they aren’t immediately halted by a lapse in congressional funding. In practical terms, this means passport agencies and U.S. embassies/consulates abroad are still processing applications and holding visa interviews. However, if the shutdown persists for a long time, backlogs could grow. Some passport offices may have reduced staff or curtailed hours, leading to slower turnaround times. It’s wise to apply as early as possible and consider paying for expedited service if you have imminent travel, since even expedited processing could take several weeks in these circumstances. For now, though, Americans can continue to obtain passports and visas – the shutdown hasn’t completely stopped those wheels from turning.

Q: How are federal employees affected by the 2025 U.S. government shutdown?

A: Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been directly hurt by the shutdown. Approximately 900,000 federal workers were furloughed – meaning they are told to stay home and not work – and roughly 2 million more “essential” employees are working without pay during the funding lapse. Those deemed essential (for example, air traffic controllers, TSA officers, military personnel, emergency responders) must continue to work without receiving paychecks until the shutdown ends. The rest are forbidden from doing their jobs at all, and likewise receive no pay during the impasse. Missing paydays has created real financial strain on many federal families. Workers have had to cut back spending, contact creditors, and even turn to food banks or emergency assistance in some cases, especially as the shutdown stretches on. Morale among federal staff is low – it’s tough to go without pay or be stuck idled at home, uncertain when you can return to work. Every additional day of the shutdown is another day of mounting bills and anxiety for these public servants.

Q: Will furloughed federal workers get paid back once the shutdown is over?

A: Yes – by law, all federal employees will receive back pay for the shutdown period once funding is restored. Thanks to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, whenever a shutdown ends, agencies are required to retroactively pay both furloughed and currently working employees for the days missed. In other words, the missed paychecks aren’t lost forever – the government “makes whole” its workers afterward. This has provided some peace of mind: federal employees know they’ll eventually get the salary they’re owed. However, that’s cold comfort if you’re struggling to cover rent or groceries right now. It’s also worth noting that government contractors (non-federal employees working under government contracts) are typically not guaranteed back pay by this law. Contractors and their companies often eat the costs of shutdown disruptions, which can mean permanent loss of income for those workers. But for direct federal employees, history shows Congress will approve retroactive pay as soon as the budget impasse is resolved. In fact, paychecks should resume normally immediately after a funding bill passes, with missed pay coming shortly thereafter.

Q: How are the military and national defense operations impacted by the shutdown? Are troops getting paid?

A: Active-duty U.S. military service members continue to report for duty throughout the shutdown, but the funding lapse created serious pay issues. Initially, without an appropriation, troops were going to miss their paychecks, something that hasn’t happened in modern times. The vast majority of Defense Department civilians were also either furloughed or working without pay. Essential military operations, especially those related to national security or ongoing missions, have carried on – planes still fly, ships still deploy, and servicemembers stand watch – but all under the shadow of not knowing when their pay will come.

The situation became so urgent that extraordinary measures were taken. By mid-October, the administration directed the Pentagon to tap unused funds (about $8 billion from other defense projects) to cover military pay during the impasse. This stopgap move allowed troops to receive pay for a time, even though no budget was in place. The Pentagon also controversially accepted a private $130 million donation from a wealthy donor to help pay service members, a decision that raised ethical and legal questions (because normally, the government cannot spend money not appropriated by Congress). Military families have been under significant stress. Reports emerged of many military spouses and children turning to food pantries and charitable organizations for help, as one or more pay periods were missed. Some base facilities, like certain mess halls and family support programs, have cut services due to the funding shortfall.

Veterans’ benefits and critical military operations have continued, since they’re deemed essential. For example, veterans still receive VA health care and disability checks. However, many civilian defense workers supporting the troops have been furloughed, which can slow things like maintenance, training, and procurement of equipment. In summary, the military hasn’t “shut down” – our defense forces remain on guard – but the shutdown has affected the people in uniform by jeopardizing their pay and straining their families. Congress typically resolves to pay the troops one way or another, but until the budget is passed, uncertainty looms over U.S. service members and defense readiness.

Q: Is air travel being affected by the shutdown? What’s happening with the FAA and TSA?

A: Flights are still operating and air travel remains safe, but passengers are seeing some disruption as the shutdown wears on. Both the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have kept their frontline staff on the job despite the funding gap. TSA officers are screening travelers at airports, and air traffic controllers are guiding planes as usual – these are considered essential safety roles. However, those employees aren’t being paid on time, and staffing has become stretched thin. Many workers face fatigue and financial stress, which can lead to longer lines at airport security and potential shortages if employees start quitting or taking sick leave. In late October and early November 2025, the strain became evident: the FAA warned of staffing shortages among controllers, leading them to slow down the flow of flights for safety. By November 5, the FAA announced it would cut air traffic by about 10% in 40 major markets (especially at busy airports) to maintain adequate safety margins with fewer personnel available. Airline travelers have been advised to arrive early and expect possible delays or cancellations, especially if the shutdown continues.

The good news is that essential aviation safety systems are still running – radar, communication, weather monitoring, and airport tower operations are staffed by dedicated professionals working without pay. There have not been any accidents or major safety incidents attributable to the shutdown, and officials say they would immediately ground flights if safety could not be assured. But as the shutdown drags on, the risk of “mass chaos” in air travel increases, according to the Transportation Secretary. In a worst-case scenario, portions of U.S. airspace might even have to be temporarily closed if there simply aren’t enough controllers to manage traffic safely. In short, you can still fly during the shutdown – just be prepared for some headaches at the airport, and keep an eye on your flight status.

Q: How is the shutdown impacting the drone industry and FAA drone services?

A: The shutdown has largely put the brakes on the drone industry’s progress in the U.S. The FAA’s drone-related activities are mostly on hold because many FAA employees who handle drones are furloughed. Out of about 45,000 FAA employees, roughly 11,000 have been furloughed, leaving only a skeleton crew to handle critical safety tasks. The core airspace safety functions that affect drones – such as issuing NOTAMs (Notices to Air Missions) and enforcing Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) – are still happening to keep the skies safe. So, recreational and commercial drone pilots can continue flying if they follow the rules (and they must still check for any flight restrictions). However, anything that involves FAA approval or long-term drone policy is basically frozen.

For example, waiver applications under Part 107 (which drone operators submit to fly beyond the normal rules, like at night or over people) are not being processed at the usual pace. The FAA’s online portal is technically still accepting requests, but with most of the staff who review waivers furloughed, new approvals are effectively paused – only truly urgent safety-related authorizations might get through. This means drone companies that need waivers for operations (like aerial photography, infrastructure inspection, etc.) are facing delays and uncertainty. Furthermore, the FAA had been working on major drone initiatives, such as the upcoming Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) rule that would greatly expand drone operations. That rulemaking work has stopped during the shutdown – analysis of public comments and drafting of regulations are not considered essential, so the staff working on the new rule have been sent home. This will push back the timeline for getting new drone rules in place. Other modernization efforts that benefit drones, like upgrading traffic management systems and integrating new unmanned aircraft technologies, are also stalled.

Q: What is the economic impact of a shutdown this long?

A: The shutdown is taking a noticeable toll on the economy, and the damage worsens the longer it continues. In the short term, each week of a federal shutdown directly costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars – around $15 billion per week of lost GDP output, according to the White House’s National Economic CouncilThe lost pay for federal workers means they’re cutting spending, which hurts local businesses (restaurants near federal offices, for example, see fewer customers). Government contractors aren’t getting paid either, which can lead to furloughs in the private sector and delayed projects. Consumer confidence can dip due to the uncertainty, and the stock market doesn’t like protracted dysfunction in Washington.

Key economic data reports have also been delayed because agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics had to pause most work, leaving investors and policymakers “flying blind” on the latest economic indicators. Early estimates suggested the shutdown could shave roughly 0.1% off fourth-quarter GDP growth for each week it lasts. Some of that lost growth tends to bounce back after the government reopens (for instance, when workers receive back pay and spend it, it can spur a mini rebound). However, the longer this drags on, the more certain losses can’t be recovered – for example, a week of cancelled vacation travel to national parks is revenue that’s just gone. If, hypothetically, the political standoff led to permanent layoffs (a few agencies have even discussed whether to start Reduction-in-Force layoffs after 30+ days of no funding), the economic hit would deepen beyond a temporary blip.

In human terms, the shutdown has meant missed paychecks for about 2.8 million workers (federal employees and contractors combined), forcing many to defer spending on big purchases, draw on savings, or miss bill payments. That has ripple effects on the broader economy. In sum, a short shutdown is a nuisance with modest economic drag, but a record-long shutdown like this one has started to meaningfully slow economic activity – potentially knocking growth down and causing real financial pain for American families.

Q: How will the government shutdown end? What needs to happen to reopen the government?

A: The 2025 shutdown will end when Congress passes, and the President signs, a new funding bill – either a full annual budget or a shorter continuing resolution – that restores money for federal agencies. In practice, this means the warring parties in Washington must reach a compromise on the issues that caused the impasse. For the 2025 shutdown, that compromise most likely involves finding middle ground on the health insurance subsidies dispute (the ACA subsidies extension) and any other contentious budget items. Throughout October and early November 2025, there were multiple failed votes and proposals. The Republican-controlled House sent at least 14 funding bills or resolutions over to the Senate, but Senate Democrats blocked them, insisting on their provisions for healthcare funding. One temporary funding bill would have extended government funding to Nov. 21, 2025, but it did not secure the 60 votes needed in the Senate. As the shutdown became protracted, pressure mounted on both sides from the public and even election results (some saw the early-November election outcomes as a signal to end the stalemate).

Ultimately, the shutdown will end only when one side concedes or both sides negotiate a deal. Either the Republican leadership will agree to include the demanded ACA subsidy extension (or other Democratic priorities), or Democrats will relent on that demand – or they find some face-saving middle route. Another possibility is a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that reopens the government for a few weeks or months while talks continue. In fact, as the shutdown stretched into November, there was talk of passing a CR to fund agencies into early 2026, buying more time to hash out a budget. There’s also the option of procedural maneuvers: for instance, changing Senate filibuster rules to lower the 60-vote threshold, which some have suggested, though that seems unlikely in the near term.

For federal employees and the public, all that matters is that Congress sends any funding legislation to the President’s desk – once it’s signed, agencies will reopen within hours, workers will be called back, and paychecks will resume. Given the public pressure and mounting consequences, most observers believe it’s a matter of “when,” not “if,” a deal is reached – but as 2025 has shown, the timeline for ending a shutdown can be unpredictably long when political divisions run deep.