Your Evening Briefing

Want to receive this post in your inbox every afternoon? Sign up here.

The shutdown standoff is down to the wire. Congress is racing to reach an agreement on a temporary funding bill that would keep the U.S. government ticking along, but an impasse is looking increasingly likely. Even if they reach a deal before the deadline, it's going to be a stopgap measure—which means you can expect a rerun of this beltway drama very soon. How did we get here?—Katie Robertson

What actually shuts down? Once just an unlikely specter, a shutdown is now a real possibility, with temporary government funding set to run out at midnight. If no deal is reached to extend funding, a carefully prescribed, but still disruptive halt to Washington’s work will be triggered. The government’s effort to battle an especially virulent flu season could be forced to pause, but many national parks and monuments would stay open.