Washington: The United States government has officially entered a shutdown after the Senate failed late Tuesday night to advance competing funding bills from Republicans and Democrats, marking the first federal closure in nearly seven years. The stalemate, driven largely by a partisan battle over healthcare provisions, halted funding for federal departments at midnight.
The collapse followed weeks of bitter wrangling in Congress. House Republicans had passed a short-term measure to keep the government funded through November 21, but the bill required Democratic support in the Senate to meet the 60-vote threshold. Democrats withheld their votes, demanding the extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, a reversal of Republican cuts to Medicaid and public media, and restrictions on President Donald Trump’s authority to slash foreign aid. Republicans rejected those terms, dismissing them as excessive.
At the heart of the impasse lies healthcare. Democrats insist that unless ACA tax credits are extended beyond the year’s end, health insurance premiums will soar for more than 20 million people. They also point to Republican Medicaid cuts that would strip coverage from an estimated 10 million Americans. The price tag for Democrats’ demands is projected at $1 trillion, a figure Republicans argue is fiscally irresponsible.
“This is about protecting families from devastating healthcare costs,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer declared. “Republicans are plunging America into a shutdown, rejecting bipartisan talks, pushing a partisan bill, and risking America’s healthcare.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune pushed back, accusing Democrats of staging a politically motivated standoff. “Far-left Democrats wanted a showdown with the president, and now the American people are paying the price,” he said.
President Trump, who returned to office last year, amplified the combative tone. Hours before the funding lapse, he warned that federal employees would be laid off en masse. “When you shut it down, you have to do layoffs,” Trump said. “They’re going to be Democrats.”
After the Senate’s deadlock, White House budget director Russ Vought issued a letter blaming Democrats’ “insane policy demands” and warned agency heads to brace for disruption.
The shutdown coincides with an unprecedented downsizing of the federal workforce. Around 750,000 workers are expected to be furloughed, while another 150,000 are set to leave under voluntary buyouts initiated by Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), led by Elon Musk. The combined exodus of one million civil servants would be the largest in nearly eight decades.
Though party leaders have held firm, divisions among Democrats surfaced. Three senators crossed the aisle to support the GOP proposal, citing fears of Trump consolidating more power during a shutdown. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said she could not back “a costly shutdown that would hurt families and empower a reckless administration.” Maine’s independent Senator Angus King echoed that concern, describing the vote as “one of the most difficult” of his career.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who previously supported the GOP bill, again broke ranks, stating, “My vote was for our country over my party. Together, we must find a better way forward.”
Polls show Americans divided on who deserves blame. A Marist survey found 38% fault Republicans, 27% blame Democrats, and 31% hold both responsible. Another poll by the New York Times/Siena reported that only 27% of voters favored a Democratic-led shutdown strategy, with independents largely opposed.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee who lost to Trump in 2024, was blunt on social media: “President Trump and Congressional Republicans just shut down the government because they refused to stop your health care costs from rising. This is their shutdown.”
Progressive leaders also weighed in. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Trump of hostage politics, saying, “We have to stop enabling their abuse of power. They want us to blink first, and we have too much to save.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who helped orchestrate the 2013 shutdown, dismissed Democrats’ resistance as a “temper tantrum” destined to collapse. “They’re trying to show they hate Trump,” he said. “It will end inevitably in capitulation.”
Senate Republicans plan to hold another round of votes on Wednesday, aiming to pressure Democrats into shifting their position. Yet with both sides entrenched, no clear resolution is in sight, leaving federal workers, contractors, and millions of citizens bracing for the consequences of a prolonged shutdown.