On October 1st, 2025, the US government shut down, and it has not reentered operation since. This is Trump’s 3rd government shutdown as president and his second longest. Trump’s longest shutdown? 35 days, 2 weeks longer than second place.
Shutdowns happen as a result of Congress failing to fund the government. During shutdowns, most federal employees are “furloughed,” meaning they are suspended until the government resumes operations. Currently, ~900,000 Americans are laid off due to Trump’s shutdown and are not guaranteed salaries.
This comes as President Trump is permanently laying off employees in essential government positions, including members of the US mental health agency, department of labor statistics, and more. When the chief of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, released information regarding mass layoffs and loss of jobs nationally, President Trump fired her. On October 10th alone, Trump laid off 4,200 employees in 7 crucial agencies.
The 2025 government shutdown has simply made federal irresponsibility more apparent. Republicans control the presidency, House of Representatives, Senate, and even the Supreme Court, yet those in power continue to blame Democrats for the shutdown: multiple politicians, including V.P. JD Vance has referred to it as the “Democrat Shutdown.” The budget bills proposed by Republicans in Congress have consistently gutted funding for healthcare programs, including Affordable Care Act tax credits. As a result, representatives have been unable to compromise on a budget.
Republicans argue that Democrats are attempting to provide illegal immigrants with free healthcare services; however, undocumented immigrants have never qualified for the programs that Democrats are in support of. Despite this, the federal government has continued to make irresponsible false claims. The official Whitehouse website published in October “Democrats and their Fake News allies want you to believe it’s all a lie that Democrats shut down the government over free healthcare for illegal aliens.”
Democrats urge that the American people depend on affordable healthcare: 78% of the public believe that Congress should extend premium tax credits through 2025. The proposal offered by Republicans only benefits already-wealthy healthcare companies that thrive off of the exploitation of working class Americans.
Republicans have historically used national issues as leverage against their political opponents. US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, spoke in an official TSA video about how the government shutdown was the fault of Democrats in Congress; this video has been played in nearly all airports in the country. Secretary Noem’s message is a clear violation of the Hatch Act, a law which prohibits federal employees from political activities that push national programs towards partisanship.
More than 1 in 4 government shutdowns in US history have been under Donald Trump (27%) for 52 total days. There were no shutdowns under 46th President Biden’s administration.
There is a serious disconnect between the people and those in power. Republicans have the ability to end the shutdown by letting Democratic representatives have a say in budgeting; this exact solution is how President Biden avoided government shutdowns during his term in office.
Why can’t Republicans muster the courage to do the same?
