How a Government Shutdown Could Affect You

Find out how it could impact your Social Security, Medicare, travel and more

Deirdre Shesgreen and Kenneth Terrell,

Updated February 03, 2026

AARP

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En español

Published September 25, 2023

/ Updated February 03, 2026

interior of the capitol rotunda inside the dome looking up next to a large statue

The Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Congress gave final approval Feb. 3 to spending legislation that funds almost all federal agencies through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. President Donald Trump signed the measure shortly afterward, fully reopening the government after a brief partial shutdown.

But whether a shutdown lasts four days, such as the one that just ended, or 43 days, as with last year’s record lapse in federal funding, certain government activities deemed “essential” continue even without a federal funding deal.

Tens of millions of Americans continue to receive their Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits, for example. People can still have their letters and prescription drugs delivered by the U.S. mail, among other essential services.

However, most government functions and services are curtailed or halted, with significant impacts on older Americans. During the 43-day shutdown that ended in November 2025, hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed, and those whose jobs were deemed essential worked without pay (they were later reimbursed under the spending agreement that ended that shutdown).

Since 2019, Congress has repeatedly missed deadlines to adopt a budget but in some cases averted shutdowns by passing temporary spending bills called continuing resolutions. These stopgap measures keep the government functioning, usually at the previous year’s funding levels, while lawmakers negotiate the details of a new budget.

The most recent shutdown began on Jan. 31 after lawmakers failed to approve a spending deal before funding for a broad swath of federal operations lapsed. Between the new budget bill and prior spending legislation passed in November, fiscal year 2026 budgets are set for all federal agencies except the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is only funded through Feb. 13.

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Here’s a look at how government shutdowns typically affect vital services for older Americans.

Social Security

Social Security benefits are paid as usual. They are considered mandatory spending, not subject to the annual congressional appropriations process, and have a dedicated funding source — the payroll taxes most U.S. workers pay on their earnings.

However, Congress does determine how much the Social Security Administration (SSA) can spend on operations, and customer service can be affected by a shutdown.

During recent shutdowns, most routine SSA services continued, including processing applications for benefits, hearing cases on appeal, and issuing new and replacement Social Security cards. Field offices and phone lines remained open.

A few customer services are generally suspended when agency funds lapse,, including benefit verifications by phone and in-person at Social Security offices (they remain available online for people with My Social Security accounts).

Medicare

Like Social Security payments, Medicare benefits are mandatory spending and largely continue as normal during a shutdown. Enrollees can still go to the doctor or hospital and get their drug prescriptions filled. Depending on how long a shutdown lasts, medical providers could see a lag in their payments.

If you want to enroll in Medicare during a shutdown, you can still go to the Social Security website, ssa.gov, and fill out an application. (The SSA handles Medicare enrollment.) The Medicare hotline (800-633-4227) continues to operate.

You can get a replacement Medicare card online if you have a My Social Security account (Medicare cards are generated by the Social Security Administration), but this service is not available by phone or at Social Security offices.

Medicaid

Medicaid is also a mandatory program, and recipients are unlikely to feel the effects of a government shutdown unless it's prolonged. They can continue to visit the doctor and fill prescriptions, and their providers will be paid.

However, state governments, which largely administer Medicaid, may be affected. For example, if a large number of employees at the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are furloughed, that could cause delays when states have questions or need assistance, especially as they prepare to implement new Medicaid work requirements by January 2027 under an already-tight timeline.

Mail delivery

Letters and packages are delivered as usual, and post office branches will remain open. The U.S. Postal Service is an independent agency that does not depend on the federal budget for funding, and thus is not affected by a shutdown.

Veterans

Most government services for military veterans and their families continue during a shutdown, including those provided by the Veterans Health Administration. VA hospitals remain open and fully staffed. The Tricare health insurance program operates as usual. Veterans still get their pension benefits and claims continue to be processed.

VA benefits regional offices and call centers for GI bill assistance are generally closed during a shutdown, and National Cemetery Applicant Assistance is not available. Grounds maintenance and placement of permanent headstones at VA cemeteries are halted, but burials and processing of applications for burial benefits continue.

Federal workers and retirees

The federal government is the country’s largest employer, with more than 2.1 million workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 750,000 federal workers were furloughed during the 2025 shutdown.

Retired federal employees continue to receive their pensions on schedule during a shutdown. They are paid from the Civil Service and Disability Trust Fund, which is not dependent on the annual appropriations process, according to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), a nonprofit that advocates for current and former federal workers.

Transportation

Air travel: Air traffic controllers and security screeners are considered essential workers, so they are required to work during the shutdown without pay. However, amid staffing shortages during the 2025 shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a mandate for airlines to reduce air traffic across 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. Thousands of flights were cancelled, and thousands more were delayed.

Train travel: Amtrak trains run as usual. Although federally owned, Amtrak is chartered as a private corporation and not subject to a government shutdown.

Passports: The U.S. State Department continues to issue and renew passports and visas. Routine passport applications can be completed at most post offices, which remain open during a government shutdown. However, passport offices located in federal buildings may be closed.

Food safety

Meat, poultry, eggs and various species of catfish processed at nearly 7,100 commercial facilities in the U.S. continue to be inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. It’s not clear how other food-processing facilities — such as cereal makers, ice cream plants and cheese factories — are affected.

Under its 2025 shutdown plan, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limited “the number and type of inspections … unless the inspections are for cause or otherwise necessary to detect and address imminent threats to the safety of human life, or can be conducted with carryover user fee funding.”

Drug safety

The FDA continues to approve medications, inspect drug-manufacturing facilities and regulate tobacco products during a shutdown, as these functions are funded by user fees. It remains able to address imminent threats to human health or life, including outbreaks of foodborne illness and infectious diseases, product recalls and drug shortages.

Nutrition

More than 11 million people ages 50 and older rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to help them pay for groceries. In the past, SNAP has been largely unaffected by shutdowns because benefits were paid through a contingency fund or other available reserves.

But the lengthy 2025 shutdown deviated from precedent, with lower-income households enrolled in SNAP seeing their benefits delayed and reduced. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees SNAP, warned in a memo last fall that benefits could be similarly affected if there is another funding lapse at the end of the current budget year.

National parks and monuments

In general, national parks remain open but operate at reduced capacity during a shutdown. Nearly two-thirds of the National Park Service workforce was furloughed during the 2025 shutdown, according to the agency’s contingency plan, and the remaining employees worked without pay.

Park roads, trails, lookouts and other open spaces generally remain open to visitors. However, parks without accessible areas would be closed.

The Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian operates 21 museums, most of them in Washington, D.C., and the National Zoo, also in Washington. It gets about 62 percent of its funding from the federal government and the rest from private sources.

During a shutdown, the Smithsonian can keep its facilities open using what’s left of its funding from the previous fiscal year, but it closes sites when that money is exhausted. That happened 10 days into the 2025 shutdown, when the Smithsonian’s museums, research centers and the National Zoo shut down and stayed closed until the new budget law was in place.

Miriam Cross, Randy Lilleston, Andy Markowitz, Susan Milligan, Molly Snow, Berit Thorkelson and Peter Urban contributed to this article.