Originally published on 2/2/26

On Saturday, January 31, the United States entered into a partial government shutdown. This is a direct result of the 2025 shutdown, which only ended when lawmakers voted on a bill to fund the country through January  2026. Now that that time period has passed, the government has shut down once again, and will remain that way until the House of Representatives, Senate and White House vote on a new piece of funding legislation. To learn more about this partial shutdown and discover how it may affect your Medicare benefits, Social Security payments, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, tax refund and more, keep scrolling. 

What’s the difference between a full government shutdown and a partial government shutdown?

Every year the House and Senate vote on 12 annual funding bills, all of which determine how the countries federal agencies are funded for the following fiscal year. In October of 2025 none of them were passed, which resulted in a full government shutdown. In January of 2026, six out of 12 bills were passed, resulting in the current partial government shutdown.

What to know about the partial government shutdown 2026

The partial government shutdown began after the Senate voted yes on a $1.2 trillion piece of legislation on Friday, January 30 that would fund the government through September 30, 2026. Following that approval, the bill failed to be discussed by the House, since none of the representatives were in Washington D.C over the weekend. 

According to House Speaker Mike Johnson, theyare planning to meet late tonight  to discuss the bill. He even told Kristen Welker on NBC News’ Meet the Press that he is “confident” they will be able to pass the new bill by Tuesday. 

“Republicans are going to do the responsible thing and fund the government,” Johnson said. 

Once the House passes it, it will then go to President Trump’s desk where he is expected to sign it into law rather quickly. 

“I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday, January 29. “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”

What’s in the new 2026 funding bill 

The approved Senate bill contains several updates that will directly impact Americans. These include: 

• $100 million will be dedicated to the Make America Healthy Again initiative, which will help people in rural areas get access to better health and nutrition tools. 
• $20 million will be dedicated to the Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which will help working-class families afford heat and air conditioning. 
• $85 million will be dedicated  to Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start, which will help families find affordable early education  and child care. 
• $415 million will be given to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help scientists discover new treatments for all types of diseases and illnesses. 
• $1.25 billion will be given to the Small Business Administration, which will help people across the country create and fund their companies. 
• There will be a 22 percent increase for Federal Defenders, which will help lower-income Americans get access to public defenders. 
• All service members will receive a 3.7 percent pay increase. 

How the new partial government shutdown affects your benefits 

As with the last government shutdown USPS, Medicare, Social Security and veterans’ benefits will not be impacted. Unlike last time, SNAP funding isn’t expected to be impacted. This is a massive shift from the 2025 shutdown, which resulted in people not getting any benefits or only getting some of what they normally get. 

What could be impacted is tax refunds. According to the tax service company Jackson Hewitt, if a lot of federal employees are furloughed during this government shutdown, it might take longer for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to process taxes, which could mean Americans have to wait longer for refunds. . But  Jackson Hewitt still recommends filing your taxes as soon as you can. Then, when the government reopens and furloughed IRS employees return to work your return will be right there waiting for them. 

Branches of the Department of Homeland Security are also impacted. That includes the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Both of these pauses could result in longer security lines at airports and fewer resources available to cities faced with natural disasters. 

Once the government does reopen, TSA and FEMA are expected to run as usual.

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/healthcare/government-shutdown-your-benefits