Image Credits: Marcel Strauß, Unsplash
On Sept. 30, 2025, at midnight, the government’s funding expired as the Senate could not come to a resolution for the federal budget. It’s been just over a week since the shutdown as uncertainty and concern increases about when the Senate will reach an agreement. While government programs are on a ticking clock for running out of funding and federal employees are either furloughed or working without pay, there are no signs of a resolution from either party.
The refusal of cooperation to come to a resolution for the federal budget will have detrimental effects on millions of Americans as the standstill persists.
The conflict in the Senate focuses on the expiration of the Affordable Care Act and Trump’s Medicaid cuts. While Republicans push for restructuring Medicaid and limiting healthcare subsidies, Democrats are resisting any of these cuts for public healthcare. Trump has outspokenly declared that the shutdown is the fault of the Democratic party for not agreeing to the restructuring and even posing threats to cut other funding, if they continue to resist. This is not an ethical or necessary use of a government shutdown.
The president has also made clear his stance that Democrats alone are to blame for the shutdown. On the White House website there is now a government shutdown clock displayed with the simple messaging “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government.” It seems as though the only focus of the White House’s response to the shutdown is to incite public outrage against an entire political party.
Government shutdowns should only be utilized as a last resort method to conserve federal funds, not as a political tool to force a party into agreement. The unwillingness to negotiate displayed by our current administration proves to only be detrimental to the well-being of the American public.
The primary focus of the government should be to preserve their people’s well-being and access to fundamental programs. The actions of the current administration does not reflect this. Instead, the priorities of these funding cuts and restructuring is to establish authority over the Democratic party and the American people. “Trump’s so-called ‘maximum pain’ plan isn’t hurting Democrats — it’s hurting American families,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
This is not the first time the Trump Administration has used a government shutdown to force funding decisions. In 2018, the longest shutdown in American history was due to the administration’s demand for billions of dollars to fund a wall along the U.S. Mexico border. The shutdown lasted 35 days until republican Senators revolted themselves and a deal was struck with the democrats without funding for the wall. The administration’s use of these shutdowns as a political tool should be concerning for all American citizens.
As the shutdown continues, the focus should not be on Republicans vs. Democrats, but rather an urgency to negotiate for the American people and what is best for the overall public — regardless of political party. Ordinary citizens are now caught in the crossfires of a political agenda that does not care to support them. This shutdown was not necessary and its long-going stand-off reflects the damage that a politically polarized government can have on its citizens.
Grace Powell is a third-year Media and Culture major with a minor in Human Resource Management. GP1019074@wcupa.edu