The executive branch is shut down. The Senate is still in session. (The House of Representatives is effectively shut down, but only because the Speaker of the

The executive branch is shut down. The Senate is still in session. (The House of Representatives is effectively shut down, but only because the Speaker of the House has been unilaterally putting it into recess at the beginning of every session. The House Republicans all voted to grant the Speaker the power to do this whenever he wants, at the beginning of their current term.)