Allen McCallie ‘26, Business and AD Manager
As a majority of people know, the United States government shut down on October 1st. but some are unaware of what caused it or what a shutdown actually entails.
The main reason for the government shutdown is because Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement on a budget dispute for October through the rest of the year. The Democrats see this dispute as leverage over the Republicans; they want to see an extension of the Premium Tax Credit and to reverse President Donald Trump’s cut to Medicaid. The tax credit and medicaid help are government programs that help low income Americans pay for health care through tax refunds and support. Republicans, like Trump, blame the left for the shutdown. On Sept. 30, he said, “They are shutting it down, we’re not shutting it down. We don’t want it to be shut down.” Meanwhile, Republicans keep falling short on how many votes they need for government funding to pass, as both parties refuse to budge on their stance, prolonging the shutdown every time they vote.
The most common answer to solve the shutdown would be for the Republicans and Democrats to come to a compromise on the bill; however, due to the extensive political polarization within the country, there is no saying when such an agreement will arise. Another plausible solution would be one party failing to push their agenda and enough senators vote to pass on one side of the bill. The solutions seem unlikely because both sides seem to be holding out very strongly on their side of the dispute. However, some senators have abandoned their party, like Republican senator Rand Paul from Kentucky who has a plan called the “Six Penny Plan.” Paul’s plan would balance the budget over five years and cut six cents off of every dollar of projected government spending. He opposed both the Republican and Democrats because if either of them got their way, it would put the government two to three trillion dollars in debt, and his plan would lessen the blow to the national debt. Ultimately, for the shutdown to end, Republicans and Democrats would have to come to an agreement to pass the federal budget.
While the government is shut down, there will be a lot of government services that will likely not be back up until the conflict is resolved. National parks and museums will not be open, including places like the Smithsonian and Chesapeake National Park. For parks and museums that are open, their restrooms, visitor centers, trash collectors, etc., will not be in use. Some other government services like federal websites are shut down, passport processing centers are delayed, immigration services are delayed, and many social services are closed. This negatively affects everyday Americans travel and financial plans by adding delays and sometimes shutting down services that are essential to many Americans.
Though many things are shut down, there are still numerous government services that are still running. Social Security and Medicare will still be giving out payments without interruption because they are mandatory spending. An important service for upcoming college students is Federal DStudent Aid—like Pell Grants and student loans. The postal service is still running because, even though it is a federal agency, it gets its own revenue and is not funded by tax dollars.
The government shutdown reveals the current division between Republicans and Democrats. Until both sides can find an agreement to the federal spending, it will continue. It can be confusing or frustrating for the government to be shut down but hopefully our senators can come to a compromise.
Lyon Life 