The U.S. federal government is currently in turmoil, with a shutdown that has the potential to become the longest the nation has ever seen.
According to Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress has the power to make laws that “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises…regulate commerce…[and] make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper.”
Government shutdowns have existed since 1980, when a new interpretation of the Antideficiency Act required federal agencies to pause operations during funding gaps. Since then, the number and length of shutdowns have only been growing, becoming a recurring situation in U.S. politics, stemming from lack of action by Congress due to a number of reasons.
Since 1974, the beginning of each fiscal year has been Oct. 1, to allow Congress time to deliver a budget. However, despite the deadlines being the same every year, Congress consistently fails to deliver budget plans on time. In fact, the last time Congress completed all 12 funding bills on time (by Sept. 30) was in 1997. With deadlines consistently being missed, Congress is forced to function on short-term solutions: Continuing Resolutions, which are temporary spending measures passed by Congress to prevent a government shutdown and fund the government for a specified period of time.
The root of the problem lies within Congress itself, specifically their lack of attention towards their responsibilities. The process of passing new bills is extremely lengthy and both chambers of Congress must approve the bill. However, this process has ground to a halt in part due to political polarization.
The political polarization plaguing our country has only been spurred on in recent years by Congress members voting for bills based on what would benefit their political party or hurt the opposing party more, not necessarily for the betterment of the nation. When Congress fails to agree, this stalls the bill, and coupled with the length of time it takes for a bill to be passed essentially makes it impossible for Congress to pass bills in a short amount of time.
On Oct. 1 at 12:01 a.m., the federal government of the U.S. shut down for the 11th time in U.S. history. Despite an Oval Office meeting between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and President Donald Trump, the Senate failed to pass a short-term funding bill that would have kept the government open after the Full‑Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act (H.R. 1968), which had been enacted in March to fund the federal government through the end of fiscal year 2025 expired.
Unlike most bills in the Senate, which require a simple majority (50%+1) to pass, appropriations bills are considered substantive legislation, and ending debate on them (achieving cloture) requires a supermajority of 60 votes out of 100 to pass. While Republicans have a federal trifecta government, holding the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Presidency, their majority is slim. In the House, Republicans only hold 219 seats to 213 Democratic seats. In the Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats to the Democrats’ 47. These narrow majorities in the 119th Congress make it difficult to advance any major legislation without at least some bipartisan support, and it’s no different regarding passing appropriations bills.
A short-term continuing resolution that failed on Sep. 30 was intended to extend government funding for several more weeks. However, Senate Democrats opposed the measure because it excluded several key provisions, including an extension of health-insurance subsidies and funding for certain social programs. Republicans, on the other hand, insisted on a “clean” continuing resolution that only extended funding without tying in to extra policy changes. When the Senate vote was held, the continuing resolution fell short of the 60 votes required to advance, triggering the first government shutdown since 2019.
“I think the current state of politics in the United States of America is so incredibly divisive that we have created a political culture where Republicans and Democrats are just both so intensely obstinate toward each other. My greatest fear is that we’re growing further and further apart to the point that we have just stopped listening to each other,” said Mr. Paul Green, a history teacher at Arcadia High School (AHS).
The shutdown has led to the temporary furlough of roughly 900,000 federal workers, the suspension of many public services, and uncertainty across federal agencies. Essential operations such as air traffic control, transportation, and border security have continued, but many civilian services like national parks are forced to halt operations or work with reduced staff. President Trump and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has used the shutdown as an opportunity to lay off thousands of additional civil servants.
On Oct. 20, the Senate once again failed to pass a House-backed resolution to pay certain federal employees for the 12th time, marking the current shutdown the second-longest in U.S. history. According to the U.S. Treasury, the current government shutdown is costing the U.S. economy more than $15 billion per week and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which serves over 40 million Americans, and California Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which aids 7 million women and children, face potential funding cuts. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told state agencies that payments for November 2025 SNAP benefits will be cut off starting Nov. 1, stating on their website, “Bottom line, the well has run dry.”
