On September 30th, 2025, 45 Senators belonging to the Democratic Party came to the Capitol for work, to vote on the budget resolution which would prevent a government shutdown, and bring through the next fiscal year’s budget. They waited for the entire day. The Republican lawmakers did not show up, and the US Government shut down.
For many people, the word shutdown has become synonymous with panic and confusion, with the possible imminent collapse of the country or its government. However, the real event is far less theatrical and far more boring than it sounds, yet it is probably one of the most terrible events America can head into. I interviewed two teachers, Mr. Dustin, a math teacher and the AP Macroeconomics and Personal Finance teacher here at Doherty, and Mr. James, one of the new Freshmen World History Survey teachers in the school. Both of them had extremely valuable things to say about the shutdown. However, firstly, what is a shutdown of the Federal Government?
Each year, the Federal Government has to pay for all of its departments (Like the Dep. of Defense) and important programs, such as SNAP programs (like food stamps), and WIC (Women, Infants, Children). At the end of each Fiscal Year, the deadline of which is 11:59 PM, EST, on September 30th, the US Senate must, with a 60 vote majority, pass a new budget that fulfills all the spending the government has to allocate. However, if the Senate doesn’t pass that budgetary resolution? Then the government shuts down. According to Mr. Dustin however, “There’s not as many things that get shut down as people realize, so like the Postal Service…is not getting shut down. Things that do get shut down are services where you might need to call, like social security or things like that…that might not be possible to get a hold of them.” Additionally, “if you go to parks, and you need, like, help…a lot of those people are furloughed¹.”
Additionally, federally run national parks, such as Yellowstone National Park, and all federal museums and commercial buildings, such as the Smithsonian museum, are shuttered, and, possibly, student loan payments from and to the government stop, which might cause large problems for college students and their families, who may need a student loan or are trying to pay them back. Federally funded grants and research will halt. Even Executive Departments like the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) will stop testing foods for salmonella and other diseases, and water for chemicals and waste, for the duration of the shutdown, mostly due to the fact that 87% of the EPA workers and 54% of FDA workers are furloughed, as well as a bit less than half of the Department of Health and Human Services. According to Mr. Dustin and the Harvard Kennedy Center, many government offices which calculate unemployment, job growth, and many important figures which the Fed uses to adjust interest rates, are also likewise shuttered, and without the information about prices, consumer demand, and much more, inflation might spike and cause massive price increases because the Fed cannot make accurate adjustments without the data to go along with them. The Trump Administration, however, has also inflamed tensions by essentially saying it will fire furloughed workers, which makes the situation ever more dire for many of the federal workers being sent home, knowing that they might not return.
However, one thing that was widely apparent during the interview with Mr. Dustin was that there was one problem being exacerbated by the shutdown that would have a far larger effect on everyday Americans than much else, and that was wealth inequality. “One of these things that is sad about shutdowns…it creates, sometimes, income inequality gaps further, based on the fact that things shut down like SNAP and these other things…we already have a massive disparity in income inequality, we shouldn’t continue to grow that…we should be trying to make sure that the income inequality doesn’t get too big…if SNAP and these other things [WIC, Medicare] are not accessible to them, it is really going to hurt lots of people who really, really need the money…that’s why the shutdown needs to end.” When the government shuts down, essential services like food stamps [a SNAP program], WIC, Medicare, and Medicaid, are all switched to reserve funding, because there is no money allocated to them until the Senate votes on a budget. After 30 days, SNAP, WIC, and many other similar programs will cease until the shutdown ends due to lack of reserve funding. And after 2 months, Medicare and Medicaid will similarly run out of reserve funds and go dark. If the shutdown goes long enough, many elderly people, people living in poverty, and millions of low income families will suffer from not getting food stamps or healthcare credits from the government. This is unlikely, however, the last shutdown in American history, over the 2018-2019 fiscal year’s budget, was the longest in history, over 35 days, and was under the same presidential administration. So it may be, however unlikely, that millions of lower income Americans will lose access to what keeps them alive.
The economic side of the shutdown is not the only one, however, and the political side is just as ugly. “There have been showdowns before in the past, between various factions, usually squabbling across the political aisle…I think we are dealing with a situation, now, unlike any we have seen in terms of…declaring ‘we can do what we want’ in the executive branch, and the DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency²] cost-cutting…many of the departments which have been sliced, and some shut down, and a lot of the aid programs [USAID], and many other programs…I think that what is understood to be a sturdy checks and balance system is anything but,” said Mr. James. “So therefore I think it is a whole new ballgame in this government shutdown…” The shutdown is, more than anything, according to Mr. James, a part of the ‘bizarre epic we live in where his [President Trump’s] own words can be broadcast³ and sometimes…explained to him…and they somehow can just dismiss it out of hand…neutralize it like…Teflon.”
The shutdown is mainly being prolonged by the disagreements between the two parties over Medicare and Medicaid. The Trump Administration, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and many other prominent Republicans have called the shutdown a ‘Democrat Shutdown’, and have said that the Democrats are fighting to give healthcare credits from the government to illegal aliens [immigrants]. However, illegal immigrants cannot access Medicare or Medicaid, and even green card holders must wait 5 years before they can gain access to the programs, and are still restricted by age and must have paid taxes for Medicare for at least 10 years. Democratic lawmakers have refused to vote with the Republican Senate majority due to Medicare and Medicaid cuts imposed on Americans by H.R-1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, which as part of voting for the new budget, they want reversed. The future is uncertain, as Republican lawmakers have been told to not go to the Capitol, so all votes on a new budget are delayed.
Mr. James provided some final insights into the shutdown, adding, “He [Trump] could have been somehow unifying in this time, but instead he is almost immediately divisive, and it’s stoked by people who are supposed to be in leadership positions to unite, not divide. I look at that and I see a trend that I do fear…we’re on a tricky path.”
But until the shutdown ends and the country goes back to some kind of normalcy, the lives and livelihoods of millions hang in the balance, and the shutdown must end to make sure that no one is hurt by poverty, by starvation, or by inability to go see the doctor without going bankrupt. That is what looms in the distance.
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¹All non-essential government workers (park rangers, private contractors working in the DOD, etc.) that are furloughed are put on an unpaid ‘leave’, and are given backpay once the shutdown ends. Essential government workers, such as teachers and other essential positions, are paid. Additionally, Representatives and Senators, as well as SCOTUS Justices and the President, VP, and Cabinet all will be paid normally. Soldiers are not paid, and veterans stop getting benefits for the duration of the shutdown.
²Not a real or legal government agency, which has not been formed by an act of Congress and which was created by Executive Order.
³President Trump said in 2011, 5 years before running for his first term, that responsibility for a government shutdown falls squarely on the shoulders of the President. He now blames the Democratic party and the ‘Far Left’ for the shutdown despite his party controlling both houses of Congress.
