The wheels of government are griding to a halt as Republicans and Democrats in Congress let a Sept. 30 deadline go by without passing a funding bill.
In Georgia, parks and many federal offices closed down to the general public. Other “essential” services — like federal law enforcement and airport services — remain open.
Both sides are talking tough, and it’s unclear how long this shutdown might last. The White House has threatened to fire thousands of workers, a move that could transform the federal workforce for years to come.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s reporters are monitoring the impacts of the shutdown on citizens and federal workers. Stay here for updates throughout the day.
The government shut down Wednesday, but it didn’t stop people from hiking at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, which is operated by the National Park Service.
Signs warned that the park’s visitor center was closed and gates barred motorists from parking in the main lot. But hikers, joggers and others parked a few blocks down the road in an overflow lot and walked to the park trailhead.
The bathrooms, which are inside the visitor's center, were also closed. Omar Diaz, 40, of Marietta, expressed his frustration.
“It’s just basic necessities that I think as an American we should be entitled to,” he said.
Dolores Hefner, 65, said the walk from the overflow lot to the base of Kennesaw Mountain “added a little more distance to my hard hike.”
Hefner, a Roswell resident, said she doesn’t pay close attention to the news but said she’s upset at Congress for not passing a bill to extend government funding.
“I wish Congress could get it together and serve the people,” she said.
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will furlough about two-thirds of its staff, according to a contingency plan released by the government.
Those remaining workers will continue to respond to urgent disease outbreaks, the plan says.
But the CDC will suspend a wide variety of activities, including reviewing surveillance data for disease spikes out in the nation. It won’t be assisting local and state governments on running some programs and will “not be able to provide communication to the American public about important health-related information,” according to the plan.
The government combined its plans for the CDC with a small sister agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Those agencies will keep about 4,900 workers working and furlough about 8,700.
Of those getting furloughed, some were already in the process of being laid off.
After a last-ditch funding measure failed to pass the U.S. Senate Tuesday night, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff released a video message saying he could not vote for a spending package that didn't extend federal health insurance subsidies.
“More than 20 million Americans will see their health insurance premiums double next year if we do not act,” he said.
The Atlanta Democrat is facing a tough reelection battle next year as a slate of Republicans have lined up to challenge him. One of them, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, put the shutdown in Ossoff's lap.
“Billions in federal funding for our state will also be put at risk,” Collins wrote on X. “All because our do-nothing senator cares more about representing the left-wing lunatics in his party than the citizens of Georgia.”
Read more from AJC Washington bureau chief Tia Mitchell here.
Flights and passenger flows continued normally at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday, the first day of the federal government shutdown.
Air traffic controllers and security screeners who are deemed essential continue to work through a shutdown, albeit without pay.
That means normal takeoffs, landings and Transportation Security Administration checkpoint screening can continue without pause.
Hartsfield-Jackson issued a statement saying it “is actively monitoring the ongoing federal government shutdown.”
“At this time, airport operations remain normal,” the airport said. “We continue to work closely with our federal partners to ensure that critical functions are maintained, and we are prepared to address any challenges that may arise.”
“I noticed nothing different,” said passenger Sam LeBeau, who flew into Atlanta on Wednesday morning from Charlottesville, Virginia.
On what is typically one of the slowest travel days of the week, traffic was light and LeBeau said his security line was “really short.”
The government shutdown “was a nonissue for me today,” LeBeau said.
Jason Fetrow, who flew in from Gainesville, Florida, to Atlanta on Wednesday morning, said he also had a smooth travel experience.
“Everything was fine,” Fetrow said. “Everything was running efficiently.”
While normal operations at the airport can continue during a shutdown, a prolonged shutdown would increase the risk of staffing shortages, long lines and delays if absenteeism increases when workers struggle to bring in income to pay bills.
President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened mass firing if Democrats in Congress did not agree to a Republican funding bill to avert a shutdown.
If he goes through with it, tens of thousands of federal workers in Georgia and their families could be impacted. The federal government is a large employer, with 110,900 workers in the state, according to preliminary August data from the Georgia Department of Labor.
The employees work across a range of agencies. They may be involved in national defense, administer veteran benefits or support public health efforts.
March 2025 data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offers a glimpse into the federal agencies with the largest concentrations of workers in Georgia. The data set comprises nearly 90,000 federal workers in Georgia but did not reflect “expected federal workforce reshaping activities," according to OPM.
As of March 2025, here are the agencies with the most workers in Georgia:
- Veterans Health Administration: 13,233
- Air Force Materiel Command: 12,422
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 8,702
- Internal Revenue Service: 6,953
- Defense Health Agency military treatment facilities: 3,558
- Federal Aviation Administration: 2,473
- Transportation Security Administration: 2,348
- U.S. Fleet Forces Command: 1,950
- U.S. Army Installation Management Command: 1,883
- Social Security Administration: 1,605
Federal employees tend to have more experience and education than the broader workforce, the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute said earlier this year.
If your mail is late Wednesday, don't blame the federal shutdown.
While the U.S. Postal Service is an agency of the federal government, it is independently funded and is not dependent on taxpayers for its budget.
That means you can still go to your local post office to get your Jimmy Carter commemorative stamp, which is being issued today on the late president's 101 birthday.
Flights, security screening and other airport operations are expected to continue during a government shutdown, including at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the world's busiest airport.
Air traffic control by the Federal Aviation Administration continues during a shutdown, along with maintenance and operation of navigational aids, safety inspections, accident investigations and some other activities, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent contingency plan posted, dated March 2025.
The Transportation Security Administration also typically continues with airport security screening during a shutdown, with the officers deemed essential employees who continue to work.
The Department of Homeland Security, of which TSA is a part, posted in its contingency plan in recent days that activities to continue during a shutdown include those necessary for safety, law enforcement, passenger processing and cargo inspections at ports and some other work.
Work that stops includes planning, research and development, most policy and administrative functions, audits and training, according to the DHS plan for a lapse in appropriations.
Also halted is air traffic controller hiring and field training, and development of new air traffic control technology and safety standards under the FAA's NextGen modernization program, according to the DOT contingency plan.
While essential federal employees continue working during a shutdown, a lengthy shutdown could still cause disruption at the airport because of the effect it would have on workers.
If the shutdown continues for longer than a couple of weeks, it means those workers could go without a paycheck -- and during a government shutdown nearly seven years ago, that led to long lines at the airport because of a shortage of screening officers. During that 35-day shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019, some TSA workers who came under financial pressure stopped coming into work or quit as they sought other ways to bring in a paycheck and pay their bills. Weeks into that shutdown, federal workers lined up at a mobile food pantry for vegetables and chicken to feed their families.
Across the country, the FAA has more than 46,000 employees, according to the March contingency plan. Of those, more than 16,000 were designated to be furloughed in a shutdown, and more than 26,000 were deemed necessary to continue work.
TSA has more than 64,000 employees nationwide, with more than 61,000 of them to be retained to work during a shutdown.