The government shutdown: A shakedown
- Matilda Ziegler
- 12 hours ago
- 2 min read
Solution: Negotiate now, and negotiate early
As of Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, the United States Federal Government, for the first time since Trump’s first presidency, has been shut down for 20 days. For 20 days, the government has not been fully funded. This does not mean, as is commonly assumed, our elected officials do not collect a paycheck. Rather, they still get to collect their salaries, which are, according to congress.gov, a minimum of $129,284.
Not all functions of the government cease during a shutdown. According to an October 2025 British Broadcasting Corporation article entitled “Why the US government has shut down and what happens now,” services deemed essential continue as normal, although in many cases staff are not paid for the duration of the suspension.
Government employees deemed non-essential, as well as contractors who work for federal agencies but are not directly employed by the government, have been temporarily put on unpaid leave. These employees are often people who provide essential, non-political services, such as air traffic controllers, those who research diseases at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), and employees at National Parks or Smithsonian Museums.
In the previous government shutdown in Trump’s first term, according to an October 2025 British Broadcasting Corporation article entitled “Why the US government has shut down and what happens now,” the lack of staff at federal historic sites and national parks resulted in looting and vandalism.
Our abundant nature and rich history are part of what makes this nation great – we must not fail to guard it because Republicans are insistent upon cutting Medicaid.
Ultimately, the reason that the United States Congress cannot agree on a budget, thus causing a government shutdown, is because members of both parties have different views concerning healthcare.
According to a British Broadcasting Corporation article entitled “US shutdown to continue after funding measures fail again in Senate,” which was published on Oct. 6 of this year, many Democrats “want any funding bill to ensure health insurance subsidies for lower-income Americans do not expire and to reverse the Trump administration's cuts to the Medicaid health programme,” and refuse to pass any budget bill that will not ensure that these subsidies do not expire, or that do not reverse the Trump administration's cuts to Medicaid.
According to an Oc. 16, 2025 PBS article entitled “Health care subsidies are at the heart of the shutdown fight. Here’s who loses if they expire,”many Republicans are refusing to fund the government if the aforementioned protections to healthcare are included, saying that they will negotiate with Democrats after the government is funded. However, in order to find a solution that is bipartisanly satisfactory, the two parties should negotiate before the bill is passed.
There is a simple solution to this crisis: negotiate now, and negotiate quickly. American people are being hurt by this shutdown, and our politicians need not delay.
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