By Phil Byrd, Staff Writer
All that anyone who pays attention to politics has been able to talk about recently is the government shutdown. As it continued into November, it officially became the longest government shutdown in U.S. history at 42 days and counting as of Tuesday.
As paychecks continue to be missed by federal workers and other government-funded benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are at risk of not being able to be funded, it can be easy to get lost in the procedure of it all.
Here’s a basic rundown of the situation surrounding the government shutdown going into November. Firstly, what is a government shutdown? Why can’t the government just not shut down? In order to pass most legislation in the Senate, bills must reach a 60 vote majority to end debate on a bill and vote. This allows minority parties, such as the Democrats currently and the Republicans in 2013, to block legislation, forcing the majority party to negotiate. A government shutdown happens when Congress fails to pass legislation to fund the government before the next fiscal year.
Oftentimes, shutdowns happen over a disagreement over how the money in the budget is allocated and the amount of money spent in the budget. Other times, certain funding legislation, such as legislation allowing the government to borrow money to pay off its debt, known as “raising the debt ceiling,” is held as leverage for other policy motives. No matter the reasoning, a shutdown is disruptive and keeps hundreds of thousands of federal workers from being able to work and earn money. This is further complicated as a shutdown stretches on.
In this instance, the shutdown occurred over a dispute on Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. These were temporarily expanded under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a stimulus package in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that passed largely along partisan lines and expanded the reach of ACA subsidies by removing a restriction on households earning more than 400% over the federal poverty level. Instead, anyone whose insurance premium, or cost, is more than 8.5% of their income became eligible to receive these subsidies. This was done to remove the welfare cliff, which is a theory that argues that the removal of government subsidies when someone gets a job or increases their income levels discourages them from doing so.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also passed largely along partisan lines, these expansions to the subsidies were allowed to expire. Further, more welfare cuts were made. As negotiations over a bill to fund the federal government for the fiscal year 2026 continued, Democrats drew a line in the sand on these subsidies, refusing to vote for a funding bill until they were fully funded as well.
As the shutdown has dragged on, both political parties have been quick to blame the other for the lack of funding. Some Republicans have made claims that the Democrats are protecting transgender healthcare and illegal immigrants’ access to healthcare. Democrats have insisted, however, that these claims are false and the disputes are as mentioned earlier in this article.
Further, some Democrats have blamed Republicans for their refusal to negotiate with the Democratic minority in order to pass the legislation. Although it is true that Democrats are blocking legislation from being passed, they are doing so to protect tax credits that their constituents rely on. Despite this conflict, the shutdown might be reaching an end soon. On Monday, the Senate approved a funding bill that brings Congress closer to ending the shutdown. The bill will still need approval from the president and the House of Representatives before the shutdown ends. Voting should occur this week.
In reality, these shutdowns are an unfortunate consequence of our political system. The harm a government shutdown can do to thousands of people by removing their income is meant to keep politicians from making them a habit. Whenever the Republicans do it, Democrats complain. When the Democrats do it, Republicans complain. Either way, constituents pay the consequences of their representative’s actions.
