Will the US government shut down in March?

The budget of all 12 US federal agencies must pass in the US Congress by September 30th each year, so that the budget for the following fiscal year is defined. If it does not pass by that date, Congress may approve a continuing resolution with temporary money allocations until the budget is approved.

If no continuing resolution is passed – or in case its deadline expires while there's still no definition of the budget – the US federal government may come to a so-called "shutdown", which puts many basic activities of the country on hold until there is a budgetary resolution. The US Congress passed a temporary spending bill on January 18th, 2024, to fund the government through March 2024.

This market aims to predict if the US federal government will officially enter a shutdown period in March 2024. If a shutdown takes place, even if it is only partial or lasts for a only few hours, this market will resolve to “Yes”.