The closure of non-essential offices of the government due to lack of agreement on the government programs budget for the upcoming fiscal period. Approval is reached if Congress passes all of the spending bills regarding the federal budget. If an agreement is not achieved, a government shutdown will close many federally run operations, and halt work for federal employees unless they are considered essential. Some organizations still stay open by running on cash reserves, but once these run out, if a solution is not found, they will also close. The shutdown stays in effect until a compromise is reached and a budget bill is passed.

On October 1, 2013, the U.S. government shut down after House Republicans refused to pass a bill to set federal spending levels unless the federal health care law was defunded or delayed. Previously, the House passed a bill to completely defund the health law, popularly known as ObamaCare. When the Senate rejected it, the House passed another version that would have abolished a tax on medical devices and delayed the law for a year. When the Senate rejected that, House Republicans passed another bill that would have delayed the individual mandate and revoked health insurance subsidies for congressional staffers. After the Senate said no to that, the clock ran out and the government shut down.