The current federal government shutdown will likely severely impact the millions of Floridians who depend on tax subsidies to pay for health insurance, nutritional supplements and housing assistance.
It will also have repercussions for the thousands of federal workers forced to work or sent home without a paycheck until further notice, as well as potentially causing delays for air travelers and people seeking veterans services, emergency aid or small business loans.
Meanwhile, the federal government’s immigration crackdown, preparations for a moon launch and processing oil drilling applications will continue thanks to safeguards put up by the Trump administration.
Orlando International Airport passengers make their way through TSA security screening before heading to the terminal on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
The shutdown — the first since 2018 — took effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday after Republicans and Democrats failed to pass a short-term budget to prevent a shutdown. Democrats have been seeking to preserve tax subsidies for those who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are resisting.
Those subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, which will cause premiums to double for millions of Americans, including the nearly 4.5 million Floridians who get their health insurance through the ACA insurance exchange.
“My constituents cannot absorb a doubling of their premiums,” State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said. “The Democrats in Congress have been trying to get a seat at the table to reverse these devastating cuts to health care passed in the ‘Big Betrayal Bill’ by the Republicans.”
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat representing South Broward County, said in her district, some “203,000 people will see their health care costs skyrocket if we don’t extend those premium tax credits. Eighty-two thousand will lose their health care entirely.”
This is the fourth government shutdown under Trump, with the last one lasting 35 days from late 2018 to early 2019. Democrats blame Republicans for the shutdown, as the GOP controls the presidency, House of Representatives, and Senate, but Republicans blame Democrats for rejecting a continuing resolution or stopgap that would have kept the government running temporarily.
U.S. Rep. Carlos Jimenez of Miami, the only Republican to go on the record in support of extending the health care tax credits, said Democrats “are trying to play games … The Democrats should do the responsible thing: keep the government running.”
Some Republicans such as Jimenez have expressed willingness to negotiate health care subsidies separately from a short-term budget fix.
Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Florida, said she will donate her government paycheck to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay for the duration of the shutdown.
“At the eleventh hour, we have been met with unserious demands that add over $1 trillion in unrelated and highly partisan priorities just to keep our government functioning,” Moody said in a press release Wednesday.
About 160,000 Floridians worked for the federal government as of July, making up about 1.6% of non-agricultural jobs. About 50,000 of those workers were in Central Florida and a nearly equal number in South Florida, according to U.S. census estimates. The largest federal employers in Florida are the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Many of those workers are in military and naval bases throughout the state, like Eglin Air Force Base in the panhandle, Magill Air Force Base in Tampa, Patrick Air Force Base on the Space Coast and the Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville.
Thousands of nonessential workers are likely to be furloughed, while essential workers like TSA officers and air traffic controllers will have to work without pay.
“Any service maintained or funded by the federal government is at risk right now,” Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said. That includes veterans services, call centers putting people on hold, delays filing claims or getting applications processed, slowdowns in FEMA payments and small business loans, she said.
The number of federal furloughs could also impact local food banks, who are facing delays in deliveries from emergency assistance programs, she added.
Travelers could also experience delays depending on whether TSA agents begin to stay home rather than work without pay if the shutdown continues.
“We have developed contingency plans should there be a dramatic decrease in the number of TSA agents processing passengers,” Orlando International Airport announced. “We are in conversations with local TSA, CBP, and FAA agencies and hope there will be a resolution soon.”
The shutdown will leave national parks from Pensacola to the Florida Keys unattended, including St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Osceola and Ocala national forests, Biscayne National Park and the Everglades National Park.
A plan submitted by NASA to the Office of Management and Budget said about 18,000 workers – nearly 83% of its workforce – would be furloughed without pay, according to a report by USA Today.
But that won’t affect plans to go forward with the Artemis II moon project, officials said, with the next crewed launch to the moon and back set for as soon as February.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
