With most congressional Democrats insisting they would only vote to fund the federal government if expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies were extended, government offices shut down at midnight Wednesday after Congress was unable to reach a deal.

Home to thousands of active-duty military and veterans, a significant population on food assistance and a major travel hub at Harry Reid International Airport, a government shutdown is expected to take a toll on Nevada — particularly if weeks, or even a month, goes by without a deal.

Some Democratic allies have stressed that fallout from the shutdown will be different from previous shutdowns. Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo — first reported by Politico — imploring federal agencies to use the shutdown as an “opportunity” to consider mass layoffs for federal workers, including those working on projects that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” 

In previous shutdowns, federal workers were temporarily furloughed and received back pay when the government reopened. Top congressional Democrats have criticized the memo as an attempt to pressure Democrats into supporting a GOP-backed funding extension that protects federal workers from shutdown-related layoffs but does not renew the expiring health care subsidies. 

The subsidies were established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and provide enhanced tax credits on ACA insurance premiums to over 94,000 Nevadans, according to an analysis by the health policy organization KFF, which also found that losing the subsidies could lead to more than 24,000 Nevadans not having health insurance in 2034.

In a statement released Wednesday, Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, criticized the shutdown as “unnecessary” but wrote that Nevadans would experience “limited disruption to operations and services” if the shutdown lasts less than three weeks. According to the White House, Nevada has around 22,000 federal workers, a little more than 1 percent of the state’s workforce.

However, a shutdown that stretches beyond that and reaches the 30-day mark could “result in more significant challenges” given the “federal funding that passes through state agencies,” according to Lombardo. 

A spokesperson for state Treasurer Zach Conine, who previously criticized federal agencies for failing to provide states with adequate guidance on the shutdown’s implications, told The Nevada Independent that, “We are confident in the state’s current cash flow and have taken the necessary steps to make sure that essential programs and services can continue without interruption.”

Here is how the shutdown would affect Nevadans.

Travel

Air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are considered essential, and will be expected to work without pay. In previous shutdowns, wait times and delays at airports increased as air traffic controllers called out sick at higher rates than normal.

Air traffic controller training will also be paused, which aviation experts have said could exacerbate an existing shortage of air traffic controllers. 

In 2023, when a government shutdown came perilously close, the Biden administration estimated that Nevada — which has a disproportionately large federal airport workforce — was home to 1,504 TSA officers and air traffic controllers.

Public lands

National parks and other federally managed lands will remain partially open during the shutdown, according to a plan released Tuesday evening by the National Park Service. Open-air sites, such as park roads, lookouts and trails, will remain accessible. But areas that generally close after business hours, such as visitor centers and gated parking lots, will be closed.

Nevada’s federally-managed areas include the Great Basin National Park, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

The National Park Service’s contingency plan directs park staff to keep bathrooms open and maintain the cleanliness of sites by using alternative funding routes, including entrance fees charged by roughly a quarter of the 433 national park sites. The amount of park staff on hand to carry out such cleanup will be limited, with over 9,000 of the service’s 14,500 staffers slated to be furloughed.

This is the same strategy the Trump administration pursued during the 35-day shutdown in 2018-19, when national parks were pressured to remain open despite a limited number of cleanup crews being available. The move led to the buildup of trash and the vandalization of protected spaces, prompting criticism from park advocates. The Government Accountability Office issued a citation to the Trump administration in 2019 for directing national parks to use entrance fees to remain open, saying it was a violation of federal appropriations law.

In previous government shutdowns, such as the 16-day shutdown in 2013, all national parks were closed. 

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — which manages wide swaths of Nevada’s vast public lands — directed The Indy to a website featuring the shutdown contingency plans of the Department of the Interior, which oversees the bureau.

A review of the contingency plans posted by the BLM and other offices showed that employees who work on fire preparedness, wild horse and burro management, law enforcement, energy inspections and emergency services are expected to continue to work. The BLM estimated in its updated contingency plan that a government shutdown would require furloughing slightly less than half of its 9,250 employees.

Leases and permits on federally managed land will still apply, though no new special recreation permits or energy leases will be issued for the duration of a shutdown. The bureau also cautioned that those with existing reservations on public lands should still consult recreation.gov to learn if their reservation will be honored because of staffing levels. Refunds will be made available once the shutdown is over.

Health care

While the federal Department of Health and Human Services will furlough 41 percent of its staff, essential personnel will remain in place to support the delivery of Medicare and Medicaid services. According to the health department, the government has enough money to fund Medicaid through the end of 2025.

While Medicaid and Medicare will have funds, the lack of staff could contribute to some administrative problems, including delays in payments to hospitals and providers. 

Food assistance

Nevadans’ ability to access federal food assistance funds may depend on what program they use. 

For the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, benefits will not be disrupted for at least a month after the shutdown begins. Approximately 1 in every 6 Nevadans receive SNAP benefits.

If the shutdown lasts longer than that, SNAP benefits could become imperiled. A spokesperson for the Nevada Department of Human Services (DHS) told The Indy in a statement that “should the shutdown continue past October, SNAP benefits may be interrupted or delayed” and that the agency was awaiting further guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is at greater risk. 

WIC is a food assistance program for low-income mothers who are either pregnant or have children under 5. The benefit cards used by those in the program are loaded with federal money that could run out within a month, and a shutdown means the department cannot deliver new or additional funds. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said in a Fox News interview on Monday that “the WIC program won’t be funded” during a shutdown. 

In a statement to The Indy, a spokesperson for USDA said that if the shutdown lasts long enough, WIC “will run out of funding and states will have to make a choice.” Nevada DHS told The Indy that the state currently has funding to cover food benefits for WIC recipients until Oct. 10, and that following that date, “Nevada WIC will evaluate next steps."

Data from 2022 shows there are approximately 52,000 Nevadans, including nearly 30,000 children, whose WIC cards will not be funded during a prolonged shutdown. 

Immigration

The Department of Homeland Security announced on its website that it would furlough about 5 percent of the agency’s roughly 272,000 employees but will require the vast majority of officers and employees at Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue working without pay.

Education

The U.S. Department of Education will furlough about 87% of its workforce but maintain many of its core operations, including disbursing federal financial aid and monitoring payment deadlines for student loans. 

The department will continue to process the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, a key piece of how colleges and universities provide aid packages to incoming students. Certain employees involved with rulemaking around changes to student loans, part of the budget bill passed by Republicans in July, also will be kept on to meet deadlines set by the legislation.

In 2022-2023, Nevada’s higher education agency provided students at the state’s eight public higher education institutions with over $257 million in financial aid, nearly three-fifths of which came from federal funding. 

The federal education agency will pause its investigations into civil rights complaints and its issuing of new federal grants to state and local education agencies. 

Because most federal grants to schools were made over the summer, the department says it would expect minimal disruption to school districts and other grant recipients. Money for high-poverty Title I schools and for programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act will continue during the shutdown.

Not all federal education money arrives ahead of the school year, however. One example is Impact Aid, a program that bolsters school budgets in areas where federal land management or other activities, such as military installations, reduce the amount of taxable land to generate revenue for the district. These schools likely will see disruptions in payments. In 2024, Nevada schools received over $7.7 million in funding from Impact Aid, with the largest share going toward the Elko County School District.

If the shutdown lasts longer than a week, the federal education department says it would revise its contingency plan to prevent significant disruptions to school districts.

The Clark County School District said in a Wednesday press release that while it did not anticipate immediate impacts from the shutdown, it would be monitoring the situation closely as federal funding provides more than 11 percent of the district’s $3.2 billion budget and helps to pay the salaries of nearly 1,800 staff.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently launched an investigation into UNLV’s response to antisemitism on campus, alleging that the university violated federal civil rights law. It is unclear if this investigation will continue during the shutdown. The DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment from The Indy.

Military

During a government shutdown, active-duty service members are considered essential employees  and therefore are expected to work without pay. Civilian military employees, on the other hand, will be furloughed. All federal employees, including service members, will continue to receive retirement benefits and will receive back pay once the shutdown ends.

Many civilian employees work on contract management, and with them sidelined, active-duty service members will have to make up the slack. New or extended Department of Defense contracts will be delayed until a government funding bill is passed. 

Nevada, which has two Air Force bases, a Navy base and an Army depot, is home to nearly 13,000 active-duty military personnel who will go unpaid during a shutdown, according to data from the defense department.

Social Security

Nevadans will still receive Social Security benefits during a government shutdown, although furloughs could lengthen wait times for customer service. 

Beneficiaries who receive their Social Security payments by check rather than direct deposit should expect delays, according to the White House. There are approximately 3,300 seniors in Nevada who receive their benefits by check.

Mail

The U.S. Postal Service is independently funded, so mail service will continue to operate as normal.

Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) confirmed to The Indy that it will continue to operate veterans’ hospitals and clinics and deliver benefits for education, housing, pensions and more. Burials at VA national cemeteries will also continue. 

However, regional VA offices will close and services such as career counseling and small business assistance will be unavailable.

Small businesses

The Small Business Administration will stop processing new applications and existing loan applications will be stuck in limbo. The White House reported on Thursday that if the shutdown stretches to a full month, Nevada’s small businesses will be delayed in receiving $39 million in loans. A month-long shutdown would also prevent small businesses from accessing $105 million in federal contracts.

However, the business administration will continue issuing disaster loans during the shutdown, and small business owners who have received loans must continue making payments. 

The Department of Labor will not publish the September jobs report, slated for Friday, and will suspend a variety of other surveys and reports until the shutdown ends.

Disaster relief

As the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) runs out of money, long-term recovery projects will pause. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said “we won’t have FEMA funded” during the shutdown.

However, the agency will continue to provide emergency relief efforts through its Disaster Relief Fund, which receives funding at the beginning of every year to address critical projects — some of which are active in Nevada — and is thus not affected by government shutdowns.

Former Nevada Independent reporter Gabby Birenbaum and Annie Ma of the Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.

This story was updated on 10/01/2025 at:

• 9 a.m. to include new guidance from the National Park Service on the status of national parks during the shutdown
• 11:24 a.m. to include information on federal education funding during the shutdown
• 2:57 p.m. to include statements from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Clark County School District
• 5:15 p.m. to include statements from Gov. Joe Lombardo and Treasurer Zach Conine

This story was updated on 10/02/2025 at 2:41 p.m. to include new information on the effects of the shutdown provided by the White House's Council of Economic Advisors.