Politics

The Shutdown

Forty-three days in the fall of 2025, the longest full shutdown in American history. What it was over, who held out, what it cost, and how Utah voted to end it.

The argument

A shutdown takes two sides. Democrats chose to withhold their votes, and this page says so first. But the people who paid for the standoff were federal workers, travelers and families who lost food aid, and the White House used the shutdown to try to fire thousands of federal workers, which a court stopped.

The government shut down on October 1, 2025 and reopened on November 12, 43 days later, the longest full shutdown on record. The fight was over whether to extend health insurance subsidies for about 24 million people. During it, the administration sent more than 4,100 layoff notices, which a federal judge blocked, and fought in court to avoid paying full November food benefits. The deal that ended it gave Democrats only a promised vote, which failed, and the subsidies lapsed.

1. What it was over

The enhanced premium tax credits that lowered the cost of Affordable Care Act coverage were set to expire at the end of 2025. About 24.3 million people were enrolled in that coverage, and a 2024 KFF analysis, cited by FactCheck.org, put the average annual premium payment at $888 with the credits and about $1,593 without. Extending the credits for ten years would cost about $335 billion (FactCheck.org). Democrats demanded an extension in the funding bill. Republicans said to pass a clean funding bill first and negotiate the credits after.

2. Democrats’ role, stated fairly

On October 1 the Senate voted 55 to 45 on a procedural vote to take up the House-passed funding bill, short of the 60 needed. Only three members of the Democratic caucus voted yes (roll call). Utah’s senators, Mike Lee and John Curtis, voted yes. Republicans pointed out that the credits did not expire until December 31, months after the funding deadline. That is a real argument against Democrats’ strategy, and it should be weighed.

3. What the administration did with it

• Layoffs. According to court filings, the administration sent more than 4,100 reduction-in-force notices to federal workers during the shutdown. A federal judge in California issued a temporary restraining order on October 15 and a preliminary injunction on October 28, blocking shutdown-related layoffs. The deal that ended the shutdown reversed them.
• Food aid. About 42 million people rely on SNAP. When November benefits ran short, a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the administration to pay them in full; the administration had offered 65%, appealed, and got a temporary pause from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on November 7 (PBS NewsHour).
• Flights. With air traffic controllers working without pay, the FAA cut flights at 40 airports, and more than 10,100 flights were cancelled (PBS NewsHour).

4. How it ended, and how Utah voted

On November 10 the Senate passed a deal 60 to 40, with seven Democrats and one independent joining Republicans (roll call). The House passed it 222 to 209 on November 12 (roll call). Both Utah senators and all four of Utah’s representatives, Blake Moore, Celeste Maloy, Mike Kennedy and Burgess Owens, voted yes. The deal funded most of the government through January 30, 2026, guaranteed back pay, and reversed the shutdown layoffs.

It did not extend the health credits. It promised a Senate vote. On December 11 both competing health plans failed (PBS NewsHour), and the enhanced credits expired on January 1, 2026.

5. What it cost

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, citing the Congressional Budget Office, reported that the shutdown reduced real economic output by about $11 billion and delayed about $54 billion in spending (CRFB). Estimates of how much of that was lost for good differ, so this page does not state one.

What is true on the other side

• Democrats chose the shutdown as leverage, and lost: the credits expired anyway.
• Republicans offered a clean funding bill the first day, and most Republicans voted for it.
• The administration did reverse the layoffs in the final deal, and workers were paid back.

The common rebuttals

“Democrats shut it down, so it is on them.”

Their votes kept it closed, and that is fair to say. But the decisions to send layoff notices in the middle of it, and to fight in court against paying full food benefits, were the administration’s. Both can be true.

What this means

Both parties made the shutdown. A judge stopped the administration’s use of it to lay off thousands of federal workers.