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ET OnlineSocial Security and SSI payments will continue during the government shutdown beginning Oct. 1, 2025, with 74 million Americans receiving benefits on schedule despite federal funding lapse and Social Security Administration service delays

The US federal government shut down Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, after the Senate voted down competing Democratic and Republican proposals to extend funding past Sept. 30. Despite the shutdown, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments will continue uninterrupted for approximately 74 million Americans.Social Security benefits in America are covered by mandatory spending previously approved by Congress without an expiration date. Recipients including retirees, disabled Americans and dependents of deceased workers will receive monthly payments on schedule during the shutdown.”The system hasn’t missed a payment in its entire 90-year history and won’t start now,” Max Richtman, CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, said. “But customer service at the Social Security Administration (SSA) may be disrupted, including benefit verifications, earnings record corrections and updates, overpayments processing, and replacing Medicare cards.”Also read: Government shutdown: Will air travel be affected? Will Social Security checks still go out? Check detailsSocial Security Administration operations during government shutdownThe Social Security Administration released a contingency plan Sept. 24 stating that approximately 45,000 employees, nearly 90 per cent of its workforce, will remain on duty during the shutdown. About 6,200 workers will be furloughed.Live Events”In the event of a lapse in appropriation, SSA will follow the contingency plan for continued activities, and Social Security beneficiaries would continue receiving their Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, and SSI payments,” an SSA spokesperson said.”We will continue activities critical to our direct-service operations and those needed to ensure accurate and timely payment of benefits,” the contingency plan states. “We will cease activities not directly related to the accurate and timely payment of benefits or not critical to our direct-service operations.”Social security services suspended during shutdownThe following Social Security Administration services will halt during the government shutdown:Benefit verificationsEarnings record corrections and updates unrelated to benefit adjudicationPayee accountingsPrisoner activities suspensionThird-party query requestsFreedom of Information Act requestsIT enhancement activities, public relations and trainingReplacement Medicare cardsOverpayments processingProcessing new Social Security applications could face delays due to reduced staff.SSI payment schedule October 2025Supplemental Security Income recipients are scheduled to receive their next payments Oct. 1. SSI is funded through mandatory spending and automated systems, ensuring uninterrupted payments during the shutdown.Social Security payments follow the standard schedule based on recipients’ birth dates:Oct. 8: Birth dates between the first and 10th of the monthOct. 15: Birth dates between the 11th and 20th of the monthOct. 22: Birth dates between the 21st and 31st of the month”If you’re a Social Security recipient, you’re going to get your check, and that’s obviously a good thing,” Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow in business and economics at the Pacific Research Institute, said.Also read: Are Social Security payments staying on track during the October 2025 government shutdown?Medicare and Medicaid operations during shutdownMedicare payments will continue during the shutdown, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The government has sufficient funds to maintain Medicaid through the first quarter of fiscal year 2026.The Department of Health and Human Services expects more than 32,000 of its nearly 80,000 workers to be furloughed. Essential activities will continue, including pandemic, flu and hurricane responses.Cost of living adjustment announcement potentially delayedThe Social Security Administration’s annual cost-of-living adjustment announcement could face delays. The COLA is typically announced each October when the Labor Department releases Consumer Price Index data, scheduled this year for Oct. 15.”A delay of the CPI release during October of each year might have an impact on the Cost of Living Adjustment announcement by the Social Security Administration,” the Labor Department stated in its contingency plan.Veterans benefits continue during government shutdownVeterans will continue receiving regular benefits, including medical care, during the shutdown. The Department of Veterans Affairs expects 97 per cent of its employees to work. Military burials will continue, but installation of new permanent headstones and grounds maintenance will cease.Regional VA offices will be closed. Some death benefits and communication lines, including hotlines, emails, social media and press inquiry responses, will be affected.Military and defense operationsMilitary personnel on active duty, including active guard reserves, will continue their duties without pay until a funding agreement is reached. No new orders may be issued except for circumstances involving disaster response or national security.The Department of Defense’s highest priorities include border security with Mexico, Middle East operations, developing the Golden Dome missile system, depot maintenance, shipbuilding and critical munitions. The government may not sign new contracts during the shutdown.Approximately 40-50 per cent of the Department of Defense’s civilian workforce may face furloughs.Air travel and transportation servicesAir traffic control services will continue, with 13,227 air traffic controllers working without pay. Essential activities including certification and oversight of commercial airplanes and engines will continue, as will limited air traffic safety oversight.Also read: Social Security $4,983 October 2025 payment dates and maximum benefit guideThe Department of Transportation will halt air traffic controller hiring, field training, facility security inspections and law enforcement assistance support.A coalition of aviation groups wrote to Congress Monday, September 30, warning that funding lapses would hurt the Federal Aviation Administration and create backlogs causing delays in critical FAA services.”While air traffic controllers, technicians and other excepted aviation safety professionals will continue to work without pay, many of the employees who support them are furloughed, and the programs that the FAA uses to review and address safety events are suspended,” the aviation groups stated.National parks partial operationsA National Park Service contingency plan released Tuesday stated parks will remain partially open during the shutdown. Open-air sites including park roads, outlooks, trails and some memorials will remain accessible. Restrooms will remain open and trash collection will continue.Buildings requiring staffing, such as visitor centers and sites like the Washington Monument, will close. The NPS advised that emergency services will be limited.Smithsonian museums and national zoo remain open temporarilyThe Smithsonian Institution’s museums and National Zoo will use funds from the previous year to remain open through at least Oct. 6. Animals at the zoo and the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute will continue receiving care and feeding, but animal webcams will not broadcast.Food assistance programs continueThe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children will continue during the shutdown, according to Department of Agriculture contingency plans.The agency stated programs will continue “subject to the availability of funding.” A May letter from the Office of Management and Budget committed SNAP funds for October. SNAP has multiyear contingency funds available but the duration was not specified.Also read: What will remain open and what will close if the US government shuts down?Health and safety operationsThe Food and Drug Administration will continue drug and medical device reviews and recalls, monitoring and response to foodborne illnesses and flu, investigations when public safety is at risk, and screening of imported food and medical products.The FDA will not process new drug applications and medical device submissions. The agency will end monitoring of new ingredients in animal food, potentially affecting meat, milk and egg safety oversight.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will continue monitoring and responding to disease outbreaks but cannot provide health-related information to the public. The agency cannot provide state and local health departments with guidance on preventing opioid overdoses, HIV and diabetes. Slightly more than one-third of CDC staff will continue working.Student aid and education servicesThe Department of Education will continue disbursing student aid through Pell Grants and Federal Direct Student Loans, which assist nearly 10 million students at 5,400 schools. Borrowers must continue making loan payments during the shutdown.The department will furlough approximately 95 per cent of staff not working on federal student aid during the first week of a shutdown. New grant-making activities will halt.Federal services continuing operationsAdditional federal services continuing during the shutdown include:US Postal ServiceFederal law enforcement agencies including FBI, DEA and Bureau of PrisonsSecret Service and Coast GuardBorder securityDisaster aidFederal courtsBanksThe Postal Service operates independently, funded through product and service sales rather than tax dollars.”Because we are an independent entity that is generally funded through the sale of our products and services, and not by tax dollars, our services will not be impacted by a government shutdown,” USPS guidance stated.Also read: Is your Social Security retirement age set to 67 in 2025? what SSA’s proposed changes mean for your benefiFederal worker pay during shutdownFederal workers will not receive pay during the shutdown. Employees considered essential must report to work without compensation until the government reopens. Furloughed and essential employees will receive back pay after the shutdown ends.President Donald Trump and members of Congress will continue receiving paychecks during the shutdown due to constitutional protections.The current shutdown marks the first government closure since the 2018-2019 shutdown, which lasted 35 days, the longest in US history. That shutdown occurred during the Christmas holidays through most of January.A 2013 government shutdown between the Obama administration and Congressional Republicans forced national parks to turn away millions of visitors at more than 400 parks, national monuments and other sites. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Government estimated that shutdown resulted in more than $500 million in lost visitor spending nationwide.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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