On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the U.S. government shut down at midnight after Congress failed to obtain the necessary votes needed to pass the federal funding budget, causing the government to run out of money.
The Republican party proposed a bill to extend the current federal spending bill, which needed Democratic support to pass. In return for their approval, Democrats demanded extended health care tax credits, including reversing cuts to Medicaid and extending Obamacare subsidies. This would increase access to affordable healthcare permanently.
Both proposals failed, leaving the Democratic and Republican parties in a crossroads, both unyielding to compromise. With the federal funding budget not decided upon, federal agencies and departments stopped.
The funding lapse means that approximately four million federal employees will go without pay. Workers deemed “essential” by the government, including airport security officers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and about 2 million military troops could all be required to come to work without pay. Non-essential workers, like federal contractors, will not be required to come to work and will not be paid.
Employees working without pay will receive compensation after the shutdown is over.
On Friday, Oct. 3, the Senate was expected to vote again on these issues. Government funding “has to be done by [Friday], or things go south real quick,” according to Republican Sen. Mike Rounds.
If nothing was passed by Friday–which there was not–, Senate Majority Leader John Thune claims that it is “unlikely” the Senate will work over the weekend, pushing the shutdown into next week.
This is the first government shutdown since 2018, which occurred under President Donald Trump, and lasted 35 days, marking the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
There is an argument over which party is responsible for the government shutdown, with the Trump administration blaming the Democratic party for the funding lapse due to their demands. The White House posted on the social media platform X, “Democrat shutdown!”.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote to Democratic leaders in Congress.
However, the Democratic party blames the Republicans for not being willing to compromise. Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris posted on X, responding to the White House’s post by directly blaming the Republican party for the shutdown.
“Let me be clear: Republicans are in charge of the White House, House and Senate,” Harris posted on X. “This is their shutdown.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claims that Republicans are “risking America’s healthcare” by refusing to negotiate.
“We want to sit down and negotiate, but the Republicans can’t do it in their partisan way, where they say it’s our way or the highway,” Schumer said at a news conference.
In response to the government shutdown, Trump threatens the Democratic party with federal funding cuts to Democratic-run states and cities, specifically targeting Democratic agencies.
This is a direct contradiction to Vice President J.D. Vance’s statement on Wednesday, stating that the White House would not target federal workers “based on politics”.
With both parties at a standstill and seeming unwilling to negotiate, multiple news sources have written that it is unclear as to when the government will reopen.
