Dec. 11, 2025
By Bruce Bartlett
Staff Writer
The longest government shutdown in American history ended on Nov. 12. Spanning 43 days, the shutdown lasted eight days longer than the 35-day record-breaking shutdown during President Donald Trump’s first term, which lasted from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019.
The cause of the most recent shutdown was a clash between the federal budget proposed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democrats in the Senate. The Democrats refused to pass a “clean” funding bill — meaning that it extends the previous fiscal year’s funding levels without any changes or additions — because they wanted to extend expiring health care subsidies for millions of Americans relying on the Affordable Care Act.
In the agreement to end the shutdown, eight Democratic senators sided with the Republicans, working out a deal to extend federal funding through Jan. 30, 2026.
Senate Republicans have not indicated any plans to extend the Affordable Care Act. However, the Democrats secured some small wins, including funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, through September 2026 and the reinstatement of government workers who were laid off during the shutdown.
“This inability to work together for the greater good of the people is the reason for the government shutdown.”
History teacher Mr. Tessalone said interruptions to SNAP, which provides benefits such as food stamps to nearly 42 million low-income Americans, hurt the people who depend on it.
“It’s common to think that people on food stamps don’t work, when in actuality, they do,” Tessalone said. “Millions of Americans use it [and] qualify for it, and [going without food stamps] can really adversely affect children.”
According to 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 38.8% of SNAP recipients are under 18 years old.
Despite the shutdown, some government employees were required to continue working without pay. Among them were air traffic controllers.
“Air traffic controllers have one of the highest-stress jobs ever, and that’s an issue there, because we have a critical shortage,” Tessalone said.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, over 1,000 of the 14,000 air traffic controllers in the United States called out of work during the shutdown, heavily impacting air travel, with flight cancellations reaching over 10% on Nov. 9.
Freshman Gianna Leto, who is interested in law and government, said an especially concerning aspect of the shutdown was its impact on SNAP benefits.
“Larger families, in particular, may not have the financial stability to provide and care for everyone,” Leto said. “They deserved their full benefits so they could meet their basic needs.”
Leto said the shutdown also harmed federally funded cultural institutions.
“Employees [were] losing income and [national] parks and museums [were closed],” Leto said. “Long-term effects may include damage to natural resources such as littering or graffiti, as well as delays in important scientific research.”
Leto said government shutdowns can be prevented.
“Government leaders need to be willing to compromise with each other instead of allowing disagreements to shut the country down,” Leto said.
Sophomore Jack Quick said he attributes the shutdown to a lack of cooperation.
“This nation has become extremely divided when it comes to political ideas, forcing people to pick a side that opposes the other in almost every way,” Quick said. “This inability to work together for the greater good of the people is the reason for the government shutdown.”
Quick said he is concerned because, according to the bill that ended the shutdown, funding for most federal agencies will run out at the end of next month.
“The current administration has done little to encourage our representatives to work together,” Quick said. “When the bill expires, I would not be surprised if another government shutdown follows.”
