On October 1st 2025 the United States Government faced the beginning of a shutdown. This means some – not all- of our government services are at a stand still. Shutdowns happen when congress is unable to agree on how to finance the funding for federal agencies and programs, leading these services to shutdown until an agreement is reached. There is no set deadline on how long a government shutdown lasts. As of today (October 28th), the shutdown remains in place. The previous shutdown lasted 35 days over disputes on the funding of the construction of the Mexico-United States border wall back in Donald Trump’s first presidential term in 2019. This held the record for the longest shutdown in U.S history. The current shutdown, however, comes from disagreements on healthcare spending. Debated by congress are Republican’s demand for tax cuts to the wealthy, which would happen only at the expense of taking $1 trillion in cuts to federal programs made to help low-moderate income households afford healthcare and receive food assistance. For example, food assistance programs and Medicaid would lose a portion of their funding under the republican funding plan. Believing that redirecting federal funding towards tax-cuts would only harm Americans, the Democratic party declined a reach of agreement that would reopen the government. Republicans, in response, refuse to discuss a potential deal that recognizes healthcare and food assistance needs until their proposal for funding is agreed upon and the shutdown is over. If the shutdown continues with no reached agreement, millions of Americans across the country could be affected by the
lack of government funding. Food assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are expected to end November 1st unless the shutdown ends.