The 43-Day-Long Shutdown Makes History

      A federal government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass a spending bill before the previous spending bill runs out. The spending bill determines what parts of the government receive money, and how much each part receives. As a consequence, these bills become political tools of both parties. Despite a controlling majority in the Senate, the 53 Republican senators, were not able to pass a spending bill without any Democrat senators’ support. A spending bill must receive at least 60 votes to pass the Senate, and all Democrats stood against the bill due to it not funding the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA), which twenty-four million people rely on for medical services. 

     Since the Republican spending bill could not get enough votes, on October 1st, 2025, the government shut down. This halted several federal government services and facilities, including national parks and museums, housing assistance programs, immigration courts, and food and nutrition programs such as SNAP. Additionally, federal government employees, including three million civilian and two million military workers, were unpaid, with many being furloughed, where they were sent home and effectively had no job until the shutdown ended. Others, such as the military, worked without pay. Once the shutdown ended, they received the pay they would have for the duration of the shutdown, but certain recurring costs, such as rent or food, had to be paid from savings.

     In an attempt to end the shutdown, the Republicans and Democrats began negotiations on a bill that Democrat senators would be willing to support. Democrat senators declared they would not pass a bill that did not extend funding for the ACA. Republican senators resisted such measures, as repealing government spending programs has been a vocal aim of the 2nd Trump Administration. As a consequence, a dozen spending bills failed in committee, and the government stayed shut down. As October gave way to November, the last finances left in programs such as SNAP ran out, potentially putting millions of Americans into food insecurity. Due to such high stakes, the stalemate ended on November 10th, when seven Democrat senators and one Independent senator agreed to support what is known as a continuing resolution, a temporary bill where spending remains the same as before, passing the Senate 60-0, before passing the House of Representatives 222-209. Two days later, the bill was signed into law, and the government re-opened after 43 days.

     Many Democrats have criticized the eight of their senators who sided with the Republicans in the Senate, arguing that they should have held out longer to get what they wanted, but the cost of so many people’s food security on the line was deemed too high. 

Whether the government will be able to pass it’s next spending bill through compromise or enter another shutdown remains to be seen, but the continuing resolution only lasts until January 30th, 2026. After that, a new spending bill will need to be passed to keep the federal government and its programs functioning.