Starting on December 22nd, 2025, a government shutdown was prompted when Democratic senators refused to support a new continuing resolution that included $5 million in funding for the border wall between El Paso, Texas, and Chihuahua, Juarez. That was the last government shutdown during 2018-2019 while Donald J. Trump was president. It’s considered the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, but it’s looking like this year’s may beat the record.
October 1st, 2025, marked the day the government officially shut down. It once again occurred when senators couldn’t agree on the extension of the health care tax credits into the following year.
Getting rid of the Affordable Care Act has openly been on the Trump administration’s agenda since its last campaign.
These tax credits have made health care insurance more affordable; without them, premium averages would go up 114%, according to the KFF—a nonpartisan health research group.
Without health care tax credits, millions of Americans will lose their health insurance. Tax credits help people through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, by offsetting the costs of the health care plan premiums.
So far seven resolutions have been denied; thus, the shutdown is ongoing.
Both parties are stubborn on their parties’ demands and positions and refuse to budge. However, October 15th proves useful to pressure one another into accepting their demands.
October 15th is the day when on-duty militia won’t be paid. Both sides would like to use this to guilt trip each other and paint the other party as the villain in the eyes of the public.
However, President Trump says this won’t happen, reassuring U.S. military personnel that they’ll continue to be paid. He supports Congress fully in passing legislation to continue military pay.
The administration’s courtesy to the military hasn’t been extended to the other federal workers. Instead, the administrations disclosed that seven agencies have begun to lay off more than 4000 workers.
By law, the federal government must give its workers at least 30 days’ notice that it is laying them off. The government has not followed the law and has illegally laid off workers during the current government shutdown.
Of course, this event has left many in distress and upset. But the entire ordeal can’t be blamed solely on the Trump administration. The U.S. government has been on the verge of a shutdown continuously for years since the last one.
Reuters/Ipsos polls say that voters blame all sides of the political spectrum: “67% say Republicans deserve plenty of blame; 63% say Democrats do as well.”
If most voters agree that all parties involved deserve the blame, then why not let those parties feel some responsibility?
Congress, along with the president, isn’t affected by the government shutdown financially. Legislators continue to make their steady income (of around $174,000) throughout shutdowns; the president continues to make their steady income (of around $400,000).
Instead of withholding other federal workers’ paychecks and laying off many of them, shouldn’t Congress and the president bear the brunt of the punishment?
Many Americans, understandably, fear that the prolonged shutdown will negatively impact them personally. 49% of voters from the Reuters/Ipsos survey said they’re worried there will be issues with government services they rely on, like Social Security payments or student aid.
If congressmen and the president would let their payroll be the first in line, then perhaps so many layoffs wouldn’t be necessary, and many essential services could continue to be provided to millions of American citizens.
It’s clear people are upset and voters want change. The federal government should take everyone’s concerns into consideration and perhaps allocate more power to the people.
