What a government shutdown could mean for you

Jason Rezaian knows the cost of free speech. He spent 544 days in an Iranian prison for simply being a journalist.The world is witnessing the erosion of democratic values. The Freedom Desk video podcast is about what comes next in the global fight for free expression.Every week, ...  Show more

Just over seven years ago, we launched this daily news podcast from The Washington Post.Our goal was to bring you inside our newsroom, sharing our reporting with listeners to help make sense of what was happening in the world. We’ve published hundreds of episodes. We’ve covered e ...  Show more

Congress is facing yet another government shutdown deadline at the end of this week. If a deal isn’t reached by Friday at midnight, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will stop getting paid, which may have broader economic ramifications. In this episode, we look at what mig ...  Show more

For the first time in nearly seven years, federal operations have been drastically curtailed as the US government shuts down. As it enters a second week, we look in detail at how the collapse in funding for government services is affecting America at large - from the Federal work ...  Show more

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that the U.S. government could default on its loans as early as June 1st, if an agreement on the debt ceiling isn't reached in Congress. If the debt ceiling isn't raised, we'd likely face a government shutdown. Today, Nicole explains what a go ...  Show more

With a looming government shutdown, Ben ponders how it could prove the validity of DOGE cuts. He notes that only 'essential' employees continue to work during a government shutdown while the rest are furloughed, and whether people will notice the shift in productivity, if there i ...  Show more