President Trump’s office has ordered federal agencies to shut down after Republican and Democrat senators failed to agree on a last-minute funding bill on Tuesday, October 1.
Earlier, President Trump had threatened to "irreversibly" fire "vast numbers of people" if the shutdown proceeded.
The last government shutdown took place under the first Trump administration back in 2019.
The shutdown lasted 35 days and wiped an estimated $6bn or more off the country's economy.
The Independent investigates what this shutdown could mean for federal government employees and which public services might be impacted.
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