On Oct 1, the federal government officially shut down due to inability to pass annual appropriations bills (Radsch), or balance the budget for the coming year.
This marks the first federal shutdown since 2019, highlighting once again the growing inability of Congress to cooperate across party lines. The closure immediately impacted national parks, government agencies, and thousands of families dependent on federal paychecks.
We at Rustler News believe that the shutdown was a folly on the part of government officials in the House and especially the Senate. This was not a sudden or unpredictable event. Signs of this result had been apparent for weeks leading up to the deadline. We believe it was easily avoidable if Senators and Representatives worried not about carve-outs for their special interest groups, or party fealty, but instead worried about coming to a common goal before their deadline.
We at the Stampede meet deadlines all the time. It’s frankly embarrassing and frustrating that our elected leaders cannot meet theirs. If a newsroom of high schoolers can get articles out within a deadline, there’s no reason adults in Congress shouldn’t be able to. We also recognize, however, that the problem is not with all senators or representatives. A select few holdouts such as Senate Democrats unwilling to pass funding due to its cuts to the Affordable Care Act and other welfare programs, and House Republicans insisting on attaching partisan policy riders and spending cuts have made it so 750,000 federal employees are on furlough (Peck), or are not being paid for work. According to the Office of Personnel Management, that number includes workers from agencies such as the Department of the Interior, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others.
It’s likely these employees will be compensated once the budget is finally passed. It is also entirely possible as well that these federal employees will be fired from their positions thanks to the current administration. We believe that this is catastrophic, and honestly somewhat childish from the current administration, to threaten laying off of “unnecessary workers” (Hsu).
We are disappointed that representatives and senators, meant to work for the good of the people they represent, were unable to come to any sort of compromise on the funding. While the budget will not reflect the needs of every American (it’s impossible to make it do as such), Congress had a deadline. They were too focused on partisanship and the “us against them” mentality that continues to influence more and more of their decisions. There is an interesting graphic on YouTube that we encourage watching, as it shows just how divided Congress has gotten into red and blue since 1949 (Business Insider). This partisanship needs to be shifted, for the good of not just those laid off government employees, but also the American people.
The continuing lack of bipartisan support will spell out worse, one-sided legislation being passed, lacking accountability, and more government shutdowns. It needs to be reconciled.
Ultimately, this shutdown should serve as a wake-up call, not only to elected officials, but to voters as well. Accountability begins at the ballot box, and citizens must demand cooperation and responsible governance from those who represent them.
Works Cited
Radsch, Courtney. “Federal Shutdown Explained.” The Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2025.
Peck, Adam. “How the Shutdown Impacts Federal Workers.” NPR, 2 Oct. 2025.
Hsu, Andrea. “‘Unnecessary Workers’: The Administration’s Threats.” Reuters, 3 Oct. 2025.
Business Insider. “How Partisanship Has Increased in Congress Since 1949.” YouTube, 2024.
