The reality is that the shutdown boils down to a budgetary disagreement. At the end of each fiscal year, Congress is tasked with planning a budget. This budget finances the entirety of the federal government, including budget for salaries, services, and research. Congress much reach a decision before the 30th of September deadline for funds to be decided and distributed. This process can result in a disagreement between parties. Inability to find a consensus by deadline results in the cease of operations of specific agencies, furloughing employees, and work without pay for hundreds of thousands of employees. 

This is not what has happened. After 41 days of the shutdown, it has become clear that this is no longer solely a dispute on how much money should be sent to each agency, but something much worse. With only the most surface analysis of the GOP proposed bill, it is evident that they are attempting an egregious new form of policymaking. The thing is that the house (Even with the Republican supermajority) is still unable to be convinced to act decisively on Trump’s requests. Demands for the gutting of the departments of Education and Healthcare are slowed, most declarations get denied. This has created a sense of desperation in the GOP.

The administration thus, used the bill to almost completely cut off funding to healthcare services such as Medicare. This was the final straw for the democratic party. Congressmen have been urged to “hold the line” by the house minority leader. Democrats feel as if they give in now, the trump administration will be able to pass or declare anything they please freely. The cuts to healthcare, which would help Trump’s goal to cut off Medicare coverage. For this reason, even a Republican representative in Kentucky, voted nay to the bill.

Why we should care has become evermore obvious. The shutdown has created a large halt in function of the majority of agencies. Crucial government agencies such as the EPA cannot go about cleaning up ‘superfund’ sites (areas deemed vital to depollute). Or the education agency, which has had 87% of their employees furloughed. However, these impacts seem less urgent than the news makes them out to be, and the reason is that the truth of the dangers lies in two agencies. The Transportation agency (which has had 30,000 agents required to work without pay) and the Agricultural agency, due to its involvement in SNAP benefits. 

With vast numbers of workers leaving their jobs due to the lack of pay, airlines have had thousands of delayed and cancelled flights due to Air traffic controllers walking away to find better pay. However, the most concerning problem lies with SNAP, the supplemental nutrition assistance program, also known as “Food Stamps”. As of 2025, over 40 million Americans who cannot afford food are given stamps which give them access to a food assistance program. The Trump administration however, refused to provide emergency funding during the shutdown (against court orders). The night that the president decided to host a Gatsby-like lavish Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago, millions of Americans lost access to their lifeline.

This has led to very visible impacts. The worker, the middle-American, has now begun to feel the repercussions of the shutdown. This will not affect the men and women in Washington, but it will primarily affect their voters. The quickest way to turn the people against themselves is to starve them, and now this is exactly what is beginning to happen. The “worker’s” party, the “president of the people”, terms which have continuously been used to describe a party which now adheres to the top 0.1% of the population. Cutting off healthcare for the bottom half, using the money to spare the rich taxes. 

So why has the government held this shutdown if it is so evidently costly to the American people? Simply put, the GOP planned to use a government shutdown to shame democrats in the public eye. Historically, the shutdown always ends in the loss for the opposing party. Caving in must happen at some point, and as we saw on the 10th of November, it was eight senate democrats who agreed to the bill, passing it in the senate. However, this shutdown is different than the rest. 

After over 40 days of ongoing shutdown, the loss in capital, the loss in workforce, and the impacts onto the American people have led to a general feel that Trump, not democrats, are at fault for the shutdown. The banner on the White House website which states “Democrats have shut down the government” clearly wants you to believe that this is a Democrat created issue, but polls show that as many as 52% of Americans blame trump. 

What comes next is unpredictable. I myself feel as if the future of the United States isn’t clear, the elections are far away, and the time between then and now feels vast. Nevertheless, we mustn’t feel as if anything could happen. This is a point in time when there is fear and uncertainty, but this is the time when calling out, speaking up, and fighting back is vital. The administration will push misinformation, will create confusion, and will point fingers. Division politics are a weapon, one that can lead a nation into submission. 

A nation of the people, by the people, for the people. As billionaires attempt to create an era of oligarchy, do not forget the principles of the nation. We will overcome this, and reparations to the damages will begin. It will take time, and that is fine. The majority of those who will read this, will vote in their nation’s next elections. It is our turn to fight back, our turn to take our nation out of the hands of the millionaires and billionaires. Return the power of congress to being equal to the president and disallow the president from the plenary authority that the highest class wishes to give him. Return the office of the president back from a ruler, to a servant of the people. 

The most important way to fight back, is to be informed. People begin to vote for the things that will hurt them when they begin to be misinformed. We give power to the ones who don’t care about us when we don’t care about who they are. My advice, be informed, listen, read, and become opinionated. That is how you can combat the corruption, the blatant misinformation, and the formation of a system that will try to take the power out of your hands.