After 43 days, the Oct. 1 government shutdown, the longest shutdown in American history, ended on Nov. 13 after President Donald J. Trump signed the government’s funding bill into effect.
A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass a spending bill for the federal government’s budget, pausing the government and creating disruption in the country.
In the most recent shutdown, the Democratic and Republican parties were unable to agree on the budget for health insurance subsidies and the Affordable Care Act.
As a part of this disagreement, the Democrats leveraged the funding for the government, refusing to pass a budget bill until the Republican party agreed to provide funding for those health insurance subsidies as a part of the bill.
These health insurance subsidies were being prioritized to be included as a part of the bill because if not, healthcare costs for lower-income Americans were expected to increase exponentially.
Subsequently, as a result of this disagreement, the deadline for passing a federal budget bill went by, funding for federal workers and programs was put on hold, and the government entered a partial shutdown.
When a shutdown occurs, all federal workers whose jobs are deemed non-essential are furloughed or put on leave without pay for the duration of the shutdown.
A federal worker in D.C., who did not wish to be identified, commented, “I was not working. I was not paid.”
Being unpaid for around two months was daunting and nerve-wracking for these federal workers, some of whom lived paycheck to paycheck and could barely scrape by with the little savings they did have.
However, some employees with jobs that are deemed essential are made to work throughout the shutdown. But, because the government does not have the budget to pay these workers, they are often working through the shutdown without pay.
The same federal worker remarked, “Some of my staff had to work because their work was essential.”
During this particular shutdown, air traffic control workers were expected to work without pay as their jobs are essential to ensuring flights run smoothly and safely. However, many employees called out sick, causing flights to be delayed or even canceled.
Data analysts in charge of analyzing the economic data that policymakers use in order to make financial decisions for the nation were furloughed as well, putting most federal economic decisions on hold. This caused the U.S. economy to take a hit as well.
To save money for federal purposes, President Donald J. Trump cut back SNAP benefits, a food aid program that helps many put food on the table.
While the Democratic and Republican parties went back and forth arguing about budget cuts, millions of Americans were left on their own without nutritional assistance.
“It was a bit scary that the threat of no food, or maybe even starving, was possible for us at some point,” said Darwin Hernandez ’26.
Finally, on Nov. 13, the Democrats relented and passed the budget bill without the health insurance subsidies they wanted to include, and the shutdown came to an end, with neither party having gained much over the disagreement.
Religious Studies teacher Jon Yeager said, “The shutdown clearly reflects on a pretty wide disagreement on certain policies, like the budget, and a lack of ability to talk constructively together in order to decide important things as a government.”
