BY: DM
Published 1 hour ago
President Donald Trump has turned a routine budget standoff into a political scorcher. He has threatened to use a government shutdown as cover to slash programs, purge federal workers, and reshape the bureaucracy while Congress argues over a short-term funding bill. The stopgap measure expired at midnight on Sept. 30. With no deal in sight, agencies began shuttering “nonessential” services on Wednesday as the funding lapse took effect.
Why is Donald Trump threatening a shutdown?
Trump has framed the shutdown as leverage. He and top Office of Management and Budget officials signaled that a funding lapse would let the administration make permanent cuts to programs Democrats defend. They also said it would accelerate firings and buyouts of federal employees. At a White House event ahead of the deadline, Trump told reporters bluntly, “We’ll be laying off a lot of people — they’re going to be Democrats,” according to Yahoo News.
In the Senate, a bid to advance a clean continuing resolution failed to reach the 60 votes required. Lawmakers voted down measures that would have extended current spending levels past the midnight deadline. With Congress unable to agree, the partial government shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Oct. 1.
According to CNN, agencies activated shutdown plans that halted nonessential work and sent tens of thousands of employees home without pay. Essential services such as border security, some military operations, and law enforcement continued to operate. The situation could evolve quickly. Senate Republican leaders said they would put the House-passed measure to another vote. For now, federal funding for many operations has stopped.
At the center of the impasse is whether to pass a short-term “clean” continuing resolution (CR) without policy demands. A clean CR would extend existing funding levels for a fixed period. House Republicans pushed a GOP-backed CR to keep the government funded for roughly seven weeks, through Nov. 21. Senate Democrats refused to back it unless it included a fix for expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies and protections against deep Medicaid rollbacks tied to earlier budget moves.
Democrats are fighting for health care.
Democrats argue that without action, 24 million people will face sharply higher health care costs when subsidies expire. Republicans counter that Democrats are holding appropriations hostage for political gain.
Democrats frame the shutdown as self-inflicted pain engineered by an administration and a GOP unwilling to compromise. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to fight relentlessly for health care. “Our guarantee is to the American people that we’re going to fight as hard as we can for their healthcare, plain and simple,” Schumer said, according to Yahoo News.
The shutdown has already begun, and both sides are digging in. Millions of Americans now face disrupted services and strained wallets while Washington plays a high-stakes game that could shape policy and personnel for months.
Historically, many shutdowns end within days after last-minute deals or votes, but the political stakes this time are high. If the White House follows through on threats to use the lapse to cut programs or accelerate firings, the legal and political fallout could reshape federal operations.
Do you think Trump is using the shutdown as smart leverage or reckless politics? Comment below!
