Hailey Whitlock, Staff Writer

As of midnight on Oct. 1, 2025, the US government has officially entered a shutdown. Each year, Congress is responsible for passing a bill allocating funding for the upcoming fiscal year. These funds are allocated to various federal agencies and make up in essence the budget for the federal government.

However, as partisan tension rise in Congress, the Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach an agreement on this essential bill. Often, if a budget is not reached by the due date, a temporary spending bill (also called a continuing resolution) will be passed. This bill would allow funding to continue for government expenses, providing Congress more time to reach compromises regarding the spending bill. Yet, this stopgap bill did not receive the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to pass, prompting the government shutdown. 

The government shutdown is of high importance to government workers. Per Time, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that approximately 750,000 workers could be furloughed each day during a shutdown. The official definition of furlough as reported by the Office of Personnel Management and cited in USA Today is, “the placing of an employee in a temporary nonduty, non-pay status because of lack of work or funds, or other non-disciplinary reasons.” It can be compared to mandatory time off for those workers deemed nonessential. For those workers who are deemed essential (such as military members), they will be required to continue working even in the absence of funds. 

Whether deemed essential or not, neither group will be paid while the shutdown occurs. However, per NBC (and federal law) at the conclusion of the shutdown, members of both groups (including those who did not work during the shutdown) will be provided with backpay. However, for those with bills on tight deadlines, this may not be enough. Further, each day the shut down is costing taxpayers $400 million in furloughed salaries. 

Even more troubling, President Trump insists that he will take advantage of the shutdown to conduct massive layoffs. As reported by Time, the president stated, “They’re taking a risk having a shutdown. Because of the shutdown we can do things medically and other ways, including benefits. We can cut large numbers of people.”

As stated in Boston, the president mentioned planned retribution for Democrats including, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs they like.” He has made several comments referring to possible mass layoffs of employees. It is unclear if these layoffs could be legally carried out. 

A key element in the funding debate revolves around healthcare. The main demand by Democrats is an extension of subsidies from the pandemic-era under the Affordable Care Act. These subsidies lowered healthcare costs significantly for millions of Americans by lowering premium costs. However, the subsidies are currently set to expire at the end of the year, which would mean substantially higher premiums for many Americans. As recorded by Time, Congressional Progressive Caucus Greg Casar declared, “We need to put up a real fight here, not a fake fight. Democrats can’t settle for crumbs here.” 

Still, not all Democrats agree with Casar’s statements. As reported in NBC News, PA Senator John Fetterman argued in reference to a shutdown, “that’s a sad day for the country, it truly is. We have to find a better solution. As a senator, I feel that is one of our core responsibilities, keep the government open… and then debate and figure out some kind of compromise.”

Republicans expressed frustration over the lack of a temporary bill to extend the deadline. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is hopeful for the resolution of the shutdown. As mentioned in NBC News, he said, “The cracks in the Democrats are already showing. There are Democrats who are very unhappy with the situation… Tonight was evidence there is still movement there.” Overall, the government shutdown is a situation which will continue to have large impacts in the coming days.