The government shutdown began on Oct. 1, quickly taking over the media and causing panic among Americans. A government shutdown is not a governmental collapse, but a pause in proceedings and pay to federal employees. Some functions are preserved and continue to be funded, but many others are furloughed or forced to work without pay.
The shutdown occurred due to a failure to pass a funding bill that would extend the shutdown deadline. The Democrats demanded that the Republicans include funding for Medicaid to offset the cuts that President Donald Trump implemented with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Republicans refused this, which resulted in neither the Democratic bill nor the Republican bill being passed. Neither party was willing to compromise, which resulted in the current situation.
While this shutdown has forced many federal employees in essential services–such as the Food and Drug Administration, Veterans Association, and more–to go without pay until a decision is made, these employees displayed a partisan voice. Healthcare officials with the Health and Human Services are concerned about a sudden stop in their ability to aid the health of the general public.
According to a scientist with the CDC in an interview with CBS News, the stop in essential services is going to “impede our ability to respond to public health outbreaks, just when all of these threats are on the rise.” It’s hard to see essential services cut in the face of political debate.
This debate hastened sparring between the extreme right and left wings of Congress. Federal websites and official White House facilities have bolded “the Democratic Shutdown” at the top of their pages.
This kind of partisan behavior directly violates the Hatch Act of 1939, which declared that federal employees under the executive branch cannot associate with a political party, nor blame or hoist their views to the public.
With this being said, this shutdown is pure feuding politics. Senate majority leader, republican John Thune, stated last week that “Democrats are dug in 15 days into a government shutdown…Democrats show no sign that they’re ready for it to end… Not even the prospect of military families going without a paycheck was enough for Democrats to reopen the government,” Thune said.
Despite partisanship and political debate, both parties are to blame for this stall and hurt essential services.
Democrats believe that the taking away of Medicaid, created by President Johnson in 1965 as part of the Social Security Act to give medical aid and support funded by the government to those who cannot afford it, would severely harm a number of elderly as well as those Americans with lesser means, who cannot afford the care they deserve. More than 70 million Americans utilize Medicaid now in 2025, according to Politico.
However, Republicans are concerned about the sizable tax increase that Americans would have to pay to keep the Medicaid program running. Lower income families, of whom Trump had appealed to in his campaign, cannot afford this tax increase.
As well, federal spending being more prudent could aid in the abuse of the national healthcare system, avoiding fraud, which they state is in part due to the states, which have, according to Politico, in the passed “worked the system and extracted… federal dollars.” They also imply that the expansion of ObamaCare has loosened the federal government’s grip on its coinage, and this needs to be reigned in.
Despite this continued third week in crisis mode, officials are hopeful about getting federal agencies back to work and ending this shutdown. “My hope is that we’re ready to resolve this as quickly as possible,” said Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez with The Guardian. However, it is still unclear as to when this issue will resolve, as Oct. 17 marks the 17th day of the shutdown.
