The federal government has shut down as of 12:01 on October 1, 2025. This means that much of the federal government will not be operating and thousands of federal employees will be furloughed – check out Federal Harms Tracker for more.
The Government Publishing Office (GPO) sent out this piece to the federal depository library community. Under a shutdown, GPO employees may only work on activities directly related to the legislative process and on activities for an orderly shutdown and to protect property and assets. See the list below of GPO resources that are affected by the shutdown.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the blatant partisan nastiness coming out of this administration. Many .gov sites have posted misleading and derogatory messages completely blaming Democrats in the House and Senate for the shutdown. This is but one example from Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In previous administrations, all of my dealings with federal employees have been courteous, usually overcautious to NOT seem partisan. This level of belligerence and deceit is beyond the pale. I only hope that the US can come to its senses sooner rather than later.
- GovInfo will continue to process and post congressional materials; existing content will continue to be available
- The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) will be available for searching but will not be updated until the Government reopens. GPO cannot ensure that all PURLs pointing to other Federal agency resources will work during this time, nor can GPO staff fix broken PURLs during this time.
- DiscoverGov will be available for searching, but the Federal Government databases it searches may not be updated until the Government reopens.
- The FDLP PURL Usage Report/PURL Server will continue to be available.
- Shipments of tangible publications sent to depository libraries will cease beginning Wednesday, October 1, 2025. No claims will be processed. Depositories may still receive shipments that were mailed prior to the shutdown.
- Inquiries may be submitted to askGPO, but they will not be answered by GPO staff until the Government reopens.
- GPO.gov, FDLP.gov, Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government, FDLP Resource Guides, and the LSCM GitHub Repositories will be available but will not be updated until the Government reopens.
- FDLP Data Manager (FDM) will be available for searching shipping lists, the List of Classes, and MARC records but will not be updated until the Government reopens.
- FDLP eXchange will be available for processing needs and offers but user support for new accounts or system issues will not be available until the Government reopens.
- The FDLP Academy Training Repository will be available, but no FDLP Academy webinars will be held. Cancellations for scheduled webinars will not be sent during a shutdown.
- Federal Register services on GovInfo will be limited to documents that protect life and property.
- The U.S. Government Bookstore will be available for searching and placing orders, but orders will not be fulfilled until the Government reopens.
- DSIMS will be available for item selection profile changes. UNION-L will not be updated.
The FDLP community is a network of Government information professionals who have a long tradition of working collaboratively to make Government information accessible to the public. Libraries in the FDLP should continue to serve patrons requesting U.S. Government information. We look forward to working with you again once the Federal Government reopens.
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