The Longest Government Shutdown in U.S History is Finally Over
As of last Monday, November 10, 2025, the U.S’s government shutdown is over. The shutdown began on October 1st, when Democrats started to urge their leaders to resist and push boundaries. The main example is this is when Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer received tremendous backlash for going along with Republicans to keep the government open. According to NPR (Northwest Public Radio), the next time a funding fight came up, where Republicans led a short term funding bill that did not include extensions for ACA (Affordable Care Act), Schumer resisted with Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries, refusing to continue funding the government unless healthcare costs subside. Due to the disagreement, it started the government shutd
In the end, Democrats got what they asked for. Eight senators indicated that they had made a decision with Republican Senators to reopen the government. The reason they didn’t hold out longer, the group of eight says, is because President Trump and congressional Republicans would not negotiate and that the lockdown was harming too many people. Knowing that this would result in severe backlash, two of the eight senators are retiring while the other six are not up for election next year.
Senator Angus King of Maine, one of the eight who voted for the deal, asked “Does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed support for the extension of the tax credits? Our judgment was that it will not produce that result.” With pressure from flight cancellations of thousands of families who wanted to be together for holidays, the senators gave in.
Although the conflicts have resolved, the wound that it has left in America must be healed. This includes a loss of 11 billion dollars in economic activity, an IRS backlog, and a damaged federal workforce. According to New York Times, “Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday urged house members to begin the process of returning to Washington ‘right now’.”
The plan was approved by Trump. When President Trump was interviewed by the New York Times, he stated “We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,”.
In addition, some Democrats are still dissatisfied with the outcome of the situation, some saying Democrats should instead stand up to President Trump and Republicans in order to get support ACA. For example, Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, when interviewed by the New York Times states, “Trump and MAGA Republicans have been shutting down the government since Inauguration day, gutting Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and engaging in the greatest health care in history-all to pay for tax cuts for CEO billionaires.”
Still, the fight is far from over. Having brought more attention to issues relating healthcare, Democrats look towards putting pressure on Republicans to lower costs. Even if Republicans resisted, they would face tremendous consequences from voting polls that show citizens want healthcare prices lowered.
