On October 1 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (6:01 a.m. CET), the US federal government shut down. Senators from the Republican and Democratic parties were unable to agree on the wording of the budget bill, prompting the US Congress to halt funding transfers to all executive branch agencies.
At the end of September, US President Donald Trump met with Democratic leaders from the Senate and House of Representatives at the White House. New York Senator Chuck Schumer and Democratic Congressional Conference Chairman Hakeem Jeffries urged Republicans to accept their demands—the repeal of long-term unemployment benefits and Medicaid health insurance for immigrants.
Trump refused, and Democratic senators refused to vote for the “clean” budget bill presented by the Republicans. Democratic members of Congress also tried to include their demands in the draft of a “continuing resolution” – as the budget is officially called, since it is passed annually – but ultimately gave up.
At the end of September, the House of Representatives submitted 11 budget bills to the Senate. However, these basic bills are passed in the upper chamber of Congress by a majority of 60 votes (this vote is known as a filibuster). Republicans only have a majority of 53 representatives in the Senate.
Trump's shutdowns
A government shutdown means that the funds allocated by Congress in the previous budget for government programs have been used up and the legislature has not passed a new resolution. Salaries for federal employees, food stamps (SNAP), or EBT social benefits will therefore continue to be paid until the funds from which the government draws these funds are exhausted.
Government agencies are also “closed” during this period, which means that U.S. citizens cannot count on anyone answering their calls or emails. Unlike previous shutdowns, however, the government has adopted a new approach this time.
The White House has posted a counter on its website showing the number of days that have passed since the “Democrat-caused” shutdown. The executive branch has also collected statements from hundreds of organizations that have joined in this criticism.
“The left is willing to shut down the government to protect NPR radio, climate fraud, and DEI bloat—and says nothing about cutting funding for Planned Parenthood,” wrote the pro-life non-governmental organization 40 Days For Life. You may be interested in: American radio station NPR investigated the racist influence of emoji use. It was met with ridicule
National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) were specifically underfunded by the Trump administration because Republicans believed they recycled left-wing propaganda. In their proposal, Schumer and Jeffries called for the resumption of their funding, similar to the funding for the USAID agency.
The Small Business Administration (SBA), which offers advice and small loans to businesses classified as “small,” created a template for an automatic email response that also directly accuses Democrats.
“I am out of the office indefinitely because Democrats in the Senate voted to block the federal funding bill (H.R. 5371), resulting in a government shutdown that prevents the Small Business Administration (SBA) from providing its services to 36 million small businesses in America,” the weekly magazine Politico quoted the wording of the bill.
The magazine, which is considered a showcase for the American and European establishment, claims, for understandable reasons, that the Democrats “only” want to enforce the comprehensive health care benefits from the Barack Obama era. However, according to the Affordable Care Act, these apply to holders of social security cards or driver's licenses – which in democratic states also applies to non-citizens.
According to statements by ethics experts collected by Politico, this could be a borderline case that may violate the law known as the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of federal agencies for political battles. However, the weekly newspaper acknowledged that all those interviewed are “long-time critics of Trump.”
The longest shutdown to date is also attributed to Trump. It began just under two months into the fiscal year – on December 22, 2018, when the White House had exhausted all funds since October 1 of that year. In his draft emergency budget (stopgap measure), Trump requested $5.7 billion for the construction of a border wall.
The shutdown lasted 35 days and ended on January 25, 2019. Trump then abandoned his hardline stance, which his own voters and part of the right-wing media had originally pushed him to take. At the time of writing, the current shutdown is the second-longest suspension of federal government funding in US history.
What can be expected from the shutdown?
In addition to the inaccessibility of government agencies and the suspension of government benefits, the suspension of “non-essential” employees is also on the list of effects of the shutdown. Trump hinted in September that federal employees who are currently on unpaid forced leave will be permanently laid off.
This would be the final implementation of the plan of Trump's former ally, billionaire Elon Musk. The man who founded SpaceX, Tesla, and PayPal and bought the Twitter network (now X) in October 2022 became coordinator of the newly formed Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January, whose goal was to reduce government spending.
Musk's vision was precisely to massively lay off employees who had become accustomed to working from home and a relaxed workday during the Covid era, which affected their performance, as Iowa Senator Joni Ernst claimed.
In contrast, essential services—the armed forces, the FBI, federal marshals, and other security forces—continue to receive their salaries. They, too, are affected by the protracted budget freeze, with their salaries set to be suspended on October 15. However, Trump instructed Secretary of the Army Pete Hegseth to continue paying soldiers despite the government shutdown.
An unknown donor also contributed $130 million to the Pentagon for operating costs. The New York Times later revealed his identity—he is the heir to the banking and industrial empire Timothy Mellon.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), one of the least known but most powerful agencies in the White House, sent out a circular at the end of September urging people to prepare for mass layoffs.
In the case of the soldiers, Trump has depleted the Pentagon's fund for research and development (R&D) of military technologies and used the funds for one-time payments. The White House must repay this money after the shutdown ends.
However, these funds will also be completely depleted by the beginning of November, leaving 1.1 million active-duty personnel without pay. Trump is not willing to give in on the issue of health insurance for nearly 15 million illegal immigrants using American taxpayer money.
However, the shutdown from 2018 to 2019 showed US citizens that they do not need the federal government in many areas of public life. This is because, in addition to the federal government, there are also state, county, and city (municipal) governments, which have their own executive branches.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2025
Later, more videos of Jeffries edited with artificial intelligence appeared, showing him wearing a traditional Mexican hat. Trump responded by stating that “the sombrero will grow with each day of the shutdown.”
The difference between the media reaction during the first shutdown and the current one is more than obvious. While Trump seemed almost fearful during his first term, he has now shaped the public debate in such a way that he ridicules his opponents with a coup de main and blames them for the suspension of social benefits.
However, even faster than the amused support for Trump is growing uncertainty, especially among the poor. If they can no longer rely on food stamps, they will slip further into the socioeconomic class that, during Joe Biden's administration, allegedly had to “take out loans to buy eggs” – against a backdrop of inflation and recession.
Trump can still bet on the current chain of events related to Argentina. Libertarian Javier Milei defended his seat in the parliamentary by-elections over the weekend. He had previously carried out a currency swap, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent bought $20 billion in pesos. After the victory of the fiscally responsible right-wing politician, the currency began to rise, increasing the value of the peso reserves in the federal treasury.
This financial cushion could help plug the financial hole created by the protracted shutdown for a few days. But even the money acquired in this way would probably not be enough to cover spending until early 2026.
On Wednesday, November 5, the United States will break a record. The shutdown will last more than 35 days.