October 16, 2025
By Marc Stier
The federal shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025, continues. And the fundamental issues have not changed.
The Republicans still want to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that would extend the budget from the year that ended on September 30th through sometime in November when, presumably, a full-year budget would be passed.
That bill must be approved by a majority of the House and, because of the filibuster, 60 votes in the Senate. To get to those 60 votes, the Republicans need seven Democrats to vote for the CR. Because some Republicans in the House seek cuts to the budget, some Democratic votes may be necessary to pass the bill there as well.
The need for Democratic votes means that this is a unique moment at which Democrats—and perhaps even a few Republicans who have concerns about recent policy changes—have some leverage over the budget.
The Democratic leaders of the House and Senate are withholding Democratic support for a continuing resolution. They have demanded that the CR contain provisions that address two issues:
Health Care:
Democrats demand provisions in the CR that protect Americans’ health care. They want to
- reverse the devastating cuts to Medicaid in the huge, ugly reconciliation bill. Depending on how they are implemented, these cuts will lead to between 375,000 and 576,000 people losing health insurance in our state alone.
- permanently continue enhanced tax credits that lower monthly premiums for millions of American families. The enhanced tax credits drastically reduce the cost of health insurance on the Pennsylvania health care exchange, Pennie. We estimate that 270,000 people in Pennsylvania alone will lose insurance as a result of the failure to extend these tax credits. And those who remain on Pennie will see increases in health care insurance costs averaging 105%.
You can find more details about these health care issues here and why the Republicans’ claims about this debate are wrong here.
Democracy and the Budget:
Democrats are also seeking to protect our democracy by restoring Congress’s authority over the budget.
In multiple ways, President Trump has violated both U.S. law and the Constitution by freezing and reducing funds that have been appropriated by laws that Congress has passed and he has signed. Anyone who has studied this country’s history knows this is wrong. “Taxation without representation!” was the Revolutionary War cry. And the founders gave Congress the primary role in determining spending and taxation to ensure that we the people can shape the federal budget through the work of our Congressional representatives.
The President has been given authority by Congress to call for rescissions of certain spending if Congress approves. But he has no legislative authority to do so without congressional approval. His actions thus violate the U.S. Constitution. In response, Democrats are proposing a number of legislative provisions to limit President Trump’s illegal budgetary action, including
- extending the availability of funds frozen by the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which would otherwise expire on September 30th, including those in the President’s pocket rescissions made during a recess, which denied Congress the opportunity to disapprove them. This would effectively revoke those rescissions.
- preventing the President from making any further unilateral efforts to freeze spending that has been approved by Congress for fiscal year 2026 in a continuing resolution or any other appropriation bill. Among other things, this would restore funding for public radio and TV stations.
- ensuring that the $2.9 billion in emergency fiscal year 2025 funding is spent as Congress has required.
- creating and filling an inspector general role for the Office of Management and Budget to monitor it for illegal actions.
The Cost of a Government Shutdown
A government shutdown is serious business. Thousands of federal workers are not being paid—but some of them, including members of the armed services and air traffic controllers, are still required to work because they do critical jobs.
While emergency services continue, a government shutdown disrupts government activities that we all rely on. Some national parks have closed, while others may be damaged because they are open without staff supervision. People seeking answers to questions about their taxes or social security or Medicare are mostly out of luck. Those who rely on government grants to do their work—from social service providers to those who conduct scientific or medical research—may have to shut down or scale down their operations.
And soon, funding will run out for some safety net programs, such as SNAP, whose November payments are in jeopardy. We are urging states to make up for the lost federal dollars until the budget crisis is resolved.
And all these changes affect the economy. Delays in paying government employees and contractors will lead them to spend less. That will slightly reduce the GDP. Employees and contractors are likely to be given back pay and grants, and the lost spending will be made up. But some of the disruption—for example to tourism—will be lost permanently.
The Trump Administration’s Illegal Response to the Shutdown
These usual consequences of a government shutdown have been made worse because the Trump administration has responded to it by firing federal employees, especially for programs that Democrats support (but that provide benefits for all Americans). Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, has long sought to shut down much of the federal government and he is taking advantage of this moment to do so.
And last week, Trump illegally shifted Department of Defense research and development funds to pay our troops. Paying our soldiers, sailors, and airmen is admirable. But it is a total violation of our Constitution for Trump to spend money Congress has already appropriated for one purpose or another.
But the courts have ruled: The President is violating the law. And if the Democrats sustain their opposition to a bad budget being passed, they will add the restoration of these jobs and grant programs as the price for reopening the government.
Despite these risks, for three reasons, we think the Democrats are doing the right thing to oppose the Republican plans.
First, the health and lives of millions of Americans are at stake. If the only way to protect them is for members of Congress to hold up funding the budget, we think the majority of Americans are willing to bear the consequences of a government shutdown to fight for their fellow citizens.
Second, the fundamental right of Congress (and thus the people who elect the congressmembers) to exercise control over the power of the purse has been threatened by President Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional freezing of government spending. Again, we believe the majority of Americans are willing to bear the consequences of a government shutdown to fight for the rights of the people and for the Congress to play its rightful role in our republic.
And third, a shutdown is an appropriate action at a time when the President and Vice President are calling on the federal government to deny funding to, or otherwise punish, American citizens, organizations, and private businesses whose staff or owners express views they disapprove of. President Trump and Vice President Vance don’t seem to understand that they are calling for action that violates the First Amendment, which protects our rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. When our government is verging on tyranny, denying it funding is an appropriate response.
With Trump’s approval dropping in the polls and the public deeply concerned about health cuts and the Trump–Vance threats to our basic liberties, this is the time for Democrats to stand up and make sure everyone knows which side they are on.