The Government Shutdown: Why Was it so Different This Time?

President Donald Trump meets with Congressional Leaders to Avert a Government Shutdown on September 30, 2025. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

On October 1, 2025, the U.S. government shut down due to the inability to agree on a new budget bill for the fiscal year. This has been the second longest shutdown in U.S. history, second only to the 35 day gridlock in 2018. Many of these disputes began with Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that was signed into law during July 2025, wagering deep medicaid cuts despite promoting tax cuts for working families. 

Republican supporters of this bill mainly opposed the notion of undocumented immigrants having access to programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. However, only immigrants that have obtained a legal status in the United States such as asylum seekers or refugees can access these programs, and oftentimes, immigrants can only access these programs after five years of residence in the US. 

Emergency Medicaid is a different story however. Undocumented immigrants in need of emergency care at hospitals are treated, with costs subsidized by Medicaid. This funding is $1 billion dollars out of an estimated $1 trillion dollar program. That being said, the Senate needed 60 votes to pass a stopgap bill that would temporarily end the shutdown and allow for certain funding to be passed. Stopgap bills would keep the government running when a federal budget has not yet been approved. Democrats were unwilling to vote for Republican Stopgap bills because Republican majorities in the Senate and the House leave inaction as the only lobbying power the Democratic party has. 

An estimated 1.4 million federal employees have been forced to take unpaid leave or continued to work without pay during the shutdown. These workers are in theory supposed to be compensated now that the government has reopened. However, this shutdown not only differs in length and intensity, but in intent. Past shutdowns have often been strategic tools to pressure budget negotiations. This one, by contrast, was used to reshape the federal government itself. 

Donald Trump has already dramatically reduced the size of the federal government and wants to use the shutdown to make further government cuts. Alongside the President,Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russel Vought, was very vocal in his efforts to lay off an additional 4,000 workers as the shutdown continued. This action was temporarily blocked by a federal judge, but there was push for it to be reconsidered. Unlike previous shutdowns, where there were efforts to reopen government operations quickly, this one evolved into a prolonged test of presidential authority over federal employees. 

Votes to end the shutdown were blocked 12 times as of October 22, 2025. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) gave a 22 hour speech protesting what he called “Trump’s Authoritarianism,” and following his speech the True Shutdown Fairness Act was denied in a 54-45 vote with only three democrats voting in favor of this bill. 

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) pointed out that government officials should not be punished for something they don’t have control of. The Democrats argued that the bill “gives too much leeway” when deciding who is paid during the shutdown. In earlier shutdowns—like those in 2013 and 2018— both parties faced public pressure to compromise as the economic toll furthered. This time, Trump’s selective funding, shielding Republican leaning industries and the military, alongside the Democrat’s unwillingness to negotiate, has blunted bipartisan urgency seen during previous shutdowns.  

This gridlock has been perpetuated by Trump’s efforts to mitigate the effects of the shutdown. Government funds as well as a large 130 million dollar donation have been tapped into to pay military workers and the suspension of federal funding will largely impact Democrat led cities,for many projects including a 2.1 billion dollar infrastructure project in Chicago. 

This imbalance transforms the shutdown into a political weapon rather than a budget failure. Due to this slight relief of pressure, caused by recent paychecks being allocated, these political officials felt less urgency to resolve the budget issue at hand which contributed to the reason why this shutdown was so unique and prolonged. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) underscores this point by saying Democrats “will not give Donald Trump a license to play politics with people’s livelihoods.” 

The broader economic context also distinguishes this shutdown from others. The 2025 shutdown occurred in an already fragile economy marked by inflation and strained labor markets. Each week of closure resulted in an estimated 0.2% decrease in U.S. economic growth and deepened the uncertainty across industries. November 1, 2025 noted a crucial day in loosening the current shutdown. This date marked the beginning of open enrollment for people who received coverage from the Affordable Care Act. This stark increase in price will increased the intensity of the shutdown pointing out one of its many impacts. GOP whip, Tom Emmer explained the problems of the shutdown were "just getting started.” The public visibility of rising healthcare costs ultimately turned this budget standoff into a political crisis and a period of reckoning over the future of the federal government itself.