A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass spending legislation, but not all federal services stop.

Essential employees, like military personnel and air traffic controllers, must work but may not be paid on time.

Many national parks will close, and other federal services may be curtailed or delayed.

Barring a last-minute deal — and such deals aren't that uncommon — the spending law funding the U.S. government will lapse at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and the federal government, in the common nomenclature, will shut down.

Only it won't, entirely.

Over the last 50 years, there have been nearly two dozen shutdowns , with the most recent and longest (at 35 days) coming in late 2018-early 2019 (though that was a "partial" shutdown because Congress had already enacted a handful of

See Full Page