The Unprecedented 2025 Government Shutdown: A Rundown
On October 1, 2025, Congress failed to come to an agreement on a budget for the next fiscal year, resulting in a shutdown of the federal government. Without the passing of the budget, the government cannot stay open, putting thousands of federal workers on unpaid leave, excluding essential workers who must work without pay. This shutdown was the result of the Republicans’ and Democrats’ competing goals for the federal budget in 2026.
Republicans seek to make no significant changes to the budget, keeping it at mostly the same spending levels as 2025. The only thing Republicans seek to extend the budget on is some health and veteran service programs.
Democrats seek to make significant changes to the budget in 2026. They aim to extend healthcare provisions and limit the White House’s power over allocated spending. Their proposal would extend premium tax credits to pandemic-era levels, raising both the number of people with insurance and the federal deficit. It also included provisions that would reverse cuts done to Medicaid in July by the Big Beautiful Bill. Finally, the Democrat proposal would also limit the Office of Management and Budget’s ability to withhold money that Congress has allocated for spending. This would limit the presidential administration’s power over the budget.
A stopgap bill, which would prevent the shutdown, was passed in the House but did not pass in the Senate. This is the first government shutdown in the US in almost 7 years.
This shutdown is bringing unprecedented change in the government that the US has never seen before. Over the past year, the Trump Administration has been seeing where cuts can be made within the government, leading to the firing of many. The president has taken this shutdown as an opportunity to see where more cuts can be made. He recently released a statement that he has authorized the layoffs of “a lot” of federal workers.
“It will be Democrat-oriented . . . They should be Democrat-oriented,” President Trump stated when discussing these layoffs. This comment has caused upset across the country, especially since the legality of these firings are in question. In the history of government shutdowns, firings such as these have never been done, meaning there is not a precedent to define the legality of these layoffs. President Trump also has threatened that federal workers will not receive back pay when the government reopens. The legality of this is also in question by several lawmakers.
To reopen, Congress must come to an agreement on the budget. As neither side is negotiating, it is unclear when the government will reopen as of right now.
Photo Courtesy of Louis Velazquez
