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The US Federal Government is gridlocked. When the 2025 fiscal year ended, the Senate and House of Representatives had not passed a budget for 2026, and so federal agencies are required to pause all non-essential services. Republicans have endorsed a short-term resolution to continue funding until a new budget can be approved, but Democrats in the Senate, who hold enough seats to block new appropriations, are leveraging the shutdown to demand reforms to health-care spending. This funding lapse has become the second longest in US history and, as The Lancet goes to press, political leaders have yet to begin negotiating a solution.
