The public sentiment surrounding the US government shutdown is predominantly negative, with overwhelming frustration and anger directed at both Republicans and Democrats for their perceived negligence and inability to act. Many commentators express a deep concern for the hardship faced by federal employees and vulnerable communities, with strong calls for accountability, immediate action, and a resolution to the ongoing crisis. The sentiment reflects a longing for political reform and an urgent response to alleviate the suffering caused by the shutdown.

Republican Party

Democratic Party

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PoliticsModeratorBot

world socialist government will ensure equality and free essentials for all and healthcare and housing

JellyfishRecent1081

under a one world socialist government most things would be free and people would not have to work.

Damn looks like Schumer will cave. Announcement at 1:30.

Mybuttyourfart

this might be the worst victory speech ive ever heard

vastbluegreen

Dems will come out tomorrow and say they will end the shutdown because they won in raising awareness in raising health care costs.

nascarworker

Anyone watching nbc news? Who is this maga hack talking shit?

flash246

Maybe i'm getting a bit too hyped but honestly, if this is a preview of 2026, then all the gerrymandering may not even save the GOP house lol.

Varolyn

Anyone seeing data on how voters today said they felt about the shutdown?

coopers_recorder

"Why would the democrats do this" is all I hear smh. People really think that anyone getting benefits is somehow not even deserving of it either.

JustMy2Centences

Get ready for the 100 poop posts from Cheeto tonight!

Devistator

Im_TroyMcClure

Good results for Dems so far but they also need to take the right lessons from this. I’m watching Dana Bash talk about a new “badass” contingent of Intelligence Agency women. Win or lose every election is somehow an endorsement of moderates.

Meanwhile house and senate leadership are against the most exciting candidate this election cycle who is from their own state.

bland-scape

Polymarket just did a complete reversal of when the government shutdown will end. Now predicting it will be later this week. Why did election night change this so dramatically?

PornMakesMeFeelAlive

NOLA-Gunner

"Alright, fellas, now that we held firm long enough to not hamper these elections, we can now cave on the CR/appropriations without any guilt." - Moderate Senate Democrats after looking at their party's wins throughout the country.

Blargg404

Dems need to hold the lines and not compromise.

THE-LORD-RETURNS

I really wish I had a chance to vote for Mamdani, but unfortunately I do not live in Kentucky.

halfsweethalfstreet

My wife and I proudly voted for Zohran.  But our daughter just raised a good point about Sliwa.  Who better than a guy that lives with 17 cats in a 350sq ft studio to fix our rat problem in the city?

CJKayak

I think we’ll make it to 54 days, based on my reading of the astrological ical signs

WatTambor420

Got my notification from Blue Cross Blue Shield:

Premiums go up $850 a month starting next year. I'm already paying over $1300 for me and my husband.

bbusiello

This is just a thought experiment, but assuming that Dems take control of the white house and Senate, is there any way Dems could play hard against republicans like Trump is doing without screwing over regular people?   I don't think democrats would do things like stop funding SNAP, which, unfortunately, may turn out to be an effective strategy, so I wonder what other options we have?  Also, by effective, I mean they are being effective like a man getting money from a cashier because they have a gun pointed at their head.

BornThought4074

It’s sick how Reddit is overrun with Dems saying it’s republican fault when Dems are the ones voting no until their additions are agree upon. Military could be getting paid right now

soulofatunafish

This will quite possibly be the longest government shutdown in history oh wait it already is .

Eagletrader22

Why can’t we just approve to pay military? Why is anything else involved in that vote?

NEWS — All Republican senators have been invited to the White House tomorrow for a breakfast with Trump.

Durbin: I don’t think there’s a clear outcome. A lot of different views expressed. Some people said nothing. I can’t tell you exactly what we’re doing next. We’re still talking about terms of agreement and if there are enough [Democratic yes votes].”

A dozen Democrat Senators are now involved in talks.

Yeah, fold imminent. They're essentially just discussing how to frame things.

How many will die from malnutrition if not outright starvation due to the SNAP benefits lost? They're AT BEST going to get half their normal amount, days or weeks from now due the states' allocation algorithms needing to be updated/rewritten or whatever.


This is what people around here (who have largely never come close to experiencing food insecurity) don't get: The Democrats have no leverage. "We'll shut down the government!" Rs: Sweet! "People will starve!" Rs: Fantastic. "Government workers won't get paid!" Rs: You had us at starvation, now you're putting icing on the cake. The cake that your starving constituents can't eat, haha!


Republicans will let this go on indefinitely because many of the things we see as horrific side effects are actually their political goals.


In what world do y'all see Republicans actually caving and giving Dems the subsidies?

theravenousR

Altruistic-Room2683

East Coast, hold the line! West coast, same energy.

Dsarg_92

A UPS plane just crashed in Louisville. If there is any indication that the issue is related to the lack of ATC staffing, this might be the factor that ends the shutdown.

Edit:  Hopefully it will end with the republicans agreeing to negotiate, but I could see the Dems caving since republicans and potentially the media will blame them for keeping the government shutdown.

Have y'all noticed the monumental shift in messaging? Staunch NO on future votes, staunch NO on CR, pressers everyday. 


Now look..silence and "we are considering all options". Fucking Dems acting like a future vote is now a good deal??? What is this memory hole? Democrat legislators think you're dumb. If they cave we deserve to lose the midterms. 

taxhellFML

My company just laid off 100 people, including our CEO. Everyone is devastated because my company is one of the good ones. All due to the economy and this administration’s policies. And now these newly unemployed folks won’t be able to fly anywhere for the holidays and won’t be able to feed their families. Fuck the GOP

Few-Mail3887

After an unusually lengthy lunch, Senate Democrats are mostly tight-lipped when asked about progress:

Durbin says there’s been some progress towards ending the shutdown, but he acknowledged that not everyone is happy without extending ACA subsidies. “Difference in opinion."

King says Dems had “a full and frank discussion of the issues” after leaving the lunch. Won’t expand on whether there was any progress to end shutdown.

“Everyone’s still talking,” Peters replied

“No updates. In process,” Kaine says

Schumer: “We had a very good caucus and are exploring all the options” (still mentioning healthcare)

During Senate GOP lunch, some R’s said they want to be able to vote on a GOP bill on the Obamacare subsidies — a sign that there’s concern about the politics of rejecting a Dem-drafted bill (and even a bipartisan bill).

IMO: Fold is imminent. Dems are probably just figuring out how to frame things. Why else would they be so tight-lipped about it? They are probably waiting until after the elections.

Its completely unacceptable how normalized the republicans bullshit has become. The government has been shut down for OVER A MONTH and the MSM is focused on if zohran mamdani is an antisemite. Actually pathetic

Sure_Quality5354

Got a feeling that if then Dems win most, if not all, elections tonight then we see this shutdown end by the week.

I don’t care what era we’re in these days. GOP can’t keep this gaslighting up forever.

JamUpGuy1989

beall49

Saved my entire life to finally take my dream trip to Tokyo, I fly next weekend….

90Valentine

R's like Collins want the new CR to only go to Dec. 19. Collins really wants to avoid year-long CR, says it's important for current talks. 

Other R's (this includes Johnson) want for new CR to go to Jan. 19 at minimum. Said R's want to avoid omnibus style package during the Christmas season.

Thune remains neutral on this for now, not wanting to interfere in any current talks.

I knew there would be some kind of catastrophe entirely of Trump's making in his second term and we are here. Democrats are refusing to fold and neither is the GOP and Trump.  They know they are in a losing position and because of how Trump has fucked over the Federal government ($75 billion for ICE and cuts to virtually everything else) now SNAP can't be properly funded. I am willing to be the reason he is pushing so hard against funding snap is because the emergency funds are gone and the people who know how to pull the right levers to restart the flow (if there is anything left) are also gone. I bet even when the shutdown ends SNAP won't be funded because its too far broken to repair and get the funds flowing.

Eridanosvoid

Karoline doesn’t understand that saying “short of (fill in the blank)” means NOT to let that particular thing happen. 
 
During the presser, she just accused Democrats of saying “short of planes falling out of the sky” they aren’t reopening the government.

Plus, her ridiculous fucking defense of Trump saying he didn’t know who he pardoned  is that he knows who he pardoned but just doesn’t have a personal relationship with him.

bbjenn

Most likely Dems are gonna sign the current CR and then spend the next 2 weeks negotiating. They were likely just waiting until after the election to make this move out of fear Dems wouldn’t come out to vote if they folded early. They know that the flight delays/cancellation during Thanksgiving are gonna cause anarchy.

Bigbrown545

Brit here, hoping to wake up tomorrow and see that sanity has prevailed in California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and anywhere else with critical elections.

Good luck, folks!

4materasu92

Trump is out of control today even by his standards. Truly shameful.

Current_Animator7546

Trump seems a bit more unhinged over this stuff lately with his latest tweets. Maybe something is getting to him. Hopefully things aren't looking good for him.

Shutdown pressure, dems not giving in like he expected. Pressure over SNAP, defying court orders. Cali redistricting, NY mayoral race. Very bad approval ratings/polling for him and mid-terms looking bad

jaymef

If blue NYC chooses a sex pest who is backed by Trump and Elon Musk over a left winger, then they forever lost the moral ground to complain about MAGA and the whole vote blue no matter what argument is dead.

frankiewalsh44

The OBBBA cuts medicare &amp; medicaid subsidies which are projected to cause health care costs to double, triple and in some cases to dectuple,  making it unaffordable for millions of people who still have it.  It's also projected to cause some rural hospitals to close.


Republicans claim that the cut is to prevent undocumented immigrants from getting services, even though there are laws against that, and the undocumented don't have medicare cards.  The Republicans then pivot to illegals getting care at emergency rooms, which is covered by a Reagan era law, and then they say it's to prevent paying for transgender surgery, which is pretty much elective.

After the smoke &amp; flashing mirrors, the dispute boils down to where the Democrats have drawn a line in the sand, refusing to pass the budget bill as long as it includes cuts to medicare, medicaid &amp; social security.  Mike Johnson's response is that Dems should allow the cuts to go through, and he promises that Republicans will try to fix the resulting carnage some other time,  Trump's healthcare plan will be ready in 2 weeks, (a quote from 2017) .

My true apologies if that sounds biased, but the Dems stance is simply that they refuse to vote to pass the cuts,  the projected consequences come from independent sources, and the Republicans won't commit to a clear and credible alternative.

Admiral_Nitpicker

Prime issues with this so-called "clean" bill.

Healthcare:

This bill will impact ALL AMERICANS who rely on the ACA, Medicare, and Medicaid. We're talking about the elderly, disabled, bonafide war veterans etc. Many will now suddenly become uninsured all while medical/healthcare/prescription costs continue to increase. 

Additionally, this will directly impact many hospitals, and nursing homes by forcing them to most likely shutdown. Many institutions within that sector rely on this funding to remain solvent, you cut that lifeline and many hospitals/nursing homes will shutdown. Think about how many Americans will potentially lose their jobs as a result. Those same Americans will probably need temporary Govt assistance while figuring out their next steps in trying to maintain finances, housing and a way to provide food for thier families. But guess what, this thing called SNAP will have already been gutted by the Republicans either way, so now what?

I haven't even mentioned the plan to defund reproductive healthcare and the implications that will have on women's health and children across America.

Energy:

This bill will repeal the clean energy tax credits, so now greedy corporations will no longer see any incentive toward promoting clean reliable energy resulting in more pollution and more construction job losses. Hopefully, proponents of this bill will never develop a sequelae of illnesses later in life from environmental damage considering how the thought of this would not pair well alongside a gutted healthcare system. Furthermore, repealing the clean energy tax credit (which is attached to the Inflation Reduction Act), Americans can expect an increase on our electrical bills just for less reliable energy in the future. How does this make any justifiable sense?

Tax cuts for the wealthy (best for last):

I'll just be frank about this one, when you look at the components that make up this trash bill, it's clear this bill's ultimate goal is to serve as a vehicle to further transfer wealth from the poor to the rich.

As if the scheme to clearly provide over $4 (T)rillion dollars in tax breaks/cuts to the rich (partially financed by the aforementioned cuts to healthcare and food assistance) wasn't enough, the Republicans will add an additional $4(T)rillion dollars to the federal deficit with their questionable spending on providing new toys for ICE/Homeland security/military to ensure their distraction-purposed war on immigration continues.

Edit: spelling

-Reddititis

So on a purely mechanical level, the US Congress has to pass a budget or otherwise vote to authorize continued spending for some amount of time. If they don't, then no further payments are legal after the previous budget or spending authorization expires. There are a whole bunch of additional laws that carve out exceptions for that in some cases, but that is the main idea. In other words, if there isn't a budget or spending authorization by X date, the government shuts down.

So in terms of voting the US Congress is bicameral and both houses have to pass the same budget/spending authorization. The US House of Reps can pass a budget / spending authorization with a simple majority. 

But the US Senate has a weird procedural rule that allows anyone to hold up a vote on most things indefinitely. It's called the "filibuster", and it occurs because Senators are allowed to speak indefinitely at a certain point in the voting process, and so by doing so they can delay the vote indefinitely.

Historically, a filibuster has required Senators to actually get up on the floor and speak continuously, because the moment they stop the filibuster would be over. But more recently the Senate decided that you can filibuster just by saying you're doing it. Hence, it happens a *lot* more often than it used to.

Now, there is *also* a way to bypass a filibuster as well. The Senate can move for a vote of cloture (ie a vote to end all debate) and, if successful, nobody can filibuster anymore and the Senate instead must vote. However, a vote of cloture requires 60 votes out of 100, rather than a simple majority.

So what this means in practice is that, in order for the Senate to do most things, there need to be 60 Senators willing to do it. Otherwise, someone will filibuster and it won't go anywhere.

Hence, a new budget / spending authorization requires a 60 vote majority in the Senate, no a simple majority. This is sometimes referred to as a "supermajority" or a "filibuster proof majority" in political discussions.

At the moment, Republicans hold a simple but not filibuster proof majority in the Senate, which means they need to convince at least some Democrats to join them in a vote on any budget / spending authorization they want to pass (I believe they need 7 Democratic votes), or the Dems can (and currently are) filibuster.

However, the Republicans have refused to negotiate with Democrats or grant them any concessions in order to justify those votes. There has been a lot of rhetorical back and forth about it, but that is ultimately the case. Republicans are essentially demanding that Dems vote for a budget that they had no part in negotiating and which does not contain any Democrat priorities. And Dems are refusing and holding up the vote via filibuster.

In particular, one of the biggest priorities for the Dems is extending health care subsidies that were put in place via the Affordable Care Act / "Obamacare". The Republicans want to let these expire. If these do expire, it means that healthcare costs for individuals in the US will *massively* increase. And the Dems want to continue these to prevent that.

There are of course other components, but that is the core dispute: Republicans want Dems to vote on a unilateral Republican budget that allows Obamacare subsidies to expire, and Dems want Republicans to negotiate with them and grant some concessions (including extension of the healthcare premiums).

The current crisis caused by this is SNAP benefits aka food stamps, which support around 40 million people in the US. They don't get paid out during a shutdown, but there is an emergency fund that can be used, but Trump has tried to claim he can't/can't be forced to use it, etc. it looks like courts have ruled the emergency funds have to be used, but we'll see.

But because the government has now been shut down for a month, there are a bunch of government employees who have not gotten a paycheck all month, and many of them will be unable to afford rent / their mortgage. Additionally, there are a bunch of government workers with essential jobs who are required to work for free during the shutdown (they get back pay after, of course, but during the shutdown they get nothing), and after a month they both cannot afford rent / mortgage and also are understandably pissed off and tired of working for free, so their quality of work will massively drop off / they will start just quitting and getting other jobs.

Additionally, another big looming crisis has to do with annual enrollment for health benefits. Now, I think this is an incredibly stupid system, but the way it works in the US is that each year around this time everyone has to decide what healthcare plan(s) they want for the next year. Much of the time you just pick the same stuff you picked last year, but you do have to do it, and sometimes things do change.

And this year, because the healthcare subsidies could expire, the cost of these plans is going to be *way* higher than before. Like, more than double.

So that is going to be a big shock for folks when they see it. Also, annual enrollment is pretty short -- you only get a couple of weeks to do it. So if this shutdown bleeds into that people either won't be able to pick their plan, or they'll have to pick based on unsubsidized prices (which may or may not get reduced after, but who knows how much), or maybe the government will extend annual enrollment if things keep changing in the middle of it, etc.

But above all it is going to be a lot of confusion, and people are going to be scared and angry and calling for blood.

And this is most likely what the Democrats are counting on, because their ability to get concessions from the Republicans relies on Republicans feeling sufficient pressure to allow it. And because the Dems have been focusing on healthcare premiums this whole time, they are likely hoping that people side with them against Republicans on this.

But regardless, it will become increasingly difficult for Congress to continue the shutdown for much longer, because once you pass the month mark a *lot* more stuff starts breaking down (people can often limp along well enough for a couple of weeks, but a full month starts to cause rapidly compounding problems).

No government shutdown in the past has lasted longer than I believe 34 days. So we'll see whether this one lasts a similar amount of time, or if enough other things about politics have changed to allow Congress to weather the outrage and continue it for longer. But we will know more in this next week / the week after.

helmutye

If congress wouldn't get paid during a shutdown, I guarantee you they would have resolved this before it started.

LetsGoAllTheWhey

Republicans control all branches of government.

But for some votes in the Senate you need 60 votes to end the filibuster so Dems are requiring Republicans to negotiate properly and include passages to avoid them from using the loopholes they love.

This is (more or less) the only way they can prevent ballooning premiums due to massive cuts in Trump's BBB.

The House has been out of session for 6 weeks at this point (to prevent the Epstein files from releasing really), the House Speaker is refusing to swear in a Democrat that would be the final vote to force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files. 

They aren't exactly interested in negotiating in good faith. They're not entitled to Democratic votes without giving concessions.

da2Pakaveli

The only real answer is that it depends on your perspective

The Republicans proposed the budget and the Democrats refuse to vote for it. So at the most simple level there is a budget and the Democrats are not passing it. That's the Republican perspective

But obviously Democrats aren't elected to just blindly do whatever the Republicans want, and they're refusing to vote for the budget because they think it will harm their voters... so from a Democrat perspective, the Republicans are putting forward a budget that they (Democrats) cannot support in good conscience

Personally it seems fairly obvious that the budget is hugely damaging to working Americans, and so I'd be inclined to agree with the Democrats

audigex

Realistically, they both are because they have policies that are red line and opposite to each other. Republicans have ways to bypass the current blockage but it would have significant backlash. 

The main issue is healthcare, which Republicans wants to cut Medicaid and health subsidies

Democrats refuses to cut those subsidies.

This is the core of the issue. 

Medicaid cut would have significant impact on low income areas which local hospitals only survive because it those subsidies. The cuts would lead to closing of those hospitals and some have already be pre-announced.

There are something like 700 rural hospitals that have been identified by people in the field that would be severely impacted or would have to close because of those cuts. 

While both are blocking , I do personally believe that Democrats are in the right in the situation that letting a ton of rural communities without services or coverage is an absolute disaster that will only lead to suffering for the most vulnerable

Kefflin

Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House making them responsible for keeping the government funded. However, Democrats in the Senate are blocking the temporary funding bill because it strips ACA subsidies without any negotiation, forcing Republicans to either compromise or own the shutdown.

hard2resist

asking who, objectively, is the cause isn't going to work. instead, i'll tell you what both sides want, and you can decide.

in a nutshell, the republicans want cuts to government health agencies, as well as doing away with government subsidies for health insurance (which make health insurance cheaper for tens of millions of americans) enacted during covid, and now are set to expire. they also want to cut federal funding to hospitals that serve a higher than average uninsured and low income patient load, that help offset their costs. they also refuse to reverse cuts to the medicaid program that helps millions of disabled and elderly americans. in short, the republicans want their version of the bill to help fewer americans with their healthcare costs, so that money can be used elsewhere instead (the elsewhere is a whole other conversation)

the democrats on the other hand, are refusing to play ball unless the inverse of all of those things are agreed to. they are using their position to try and force the republicans to include more healthcare protections for around 100 million americans, or 1/3 of the population.

so...who do you think should have their way?

setrippin

The fundamental issue that's not getting enough attention in the media is Trump is unilaterally making cuts to the budget that have not been approved by Congress. This makes it nearly impossible for Democrats to negotiate with Republicans in good faith because Trump can blow up any budget agreement on a whim. Republicans in Congress are offering virtually no pushback to this usurption of their powers. 

Previously, it was understood that the Executive Branch would implement the Legislative Branch's priorities. The administration would have discretion on how to implement those priorities but Congress dictated the funding levels. Now the Trump administration is treating those funding levels as a ceiling. So if they don't support something Congress has passed, they feel they have discretion to not spend money towards that initiative. Previous case law doesn't support what the administration is doing but the Supreme Court seems largely deferential.

So to answer your question, Democrats aren't passing a "clean" CR because it's not actually clean. They know Trump can and will ignore any budget agreement. Republicans refuse to entertain putting any limits on what the president can do. This is the main reason Democrats only want to negotiate with Trump to reopen the government. The ACA subsidies are a bit of a red herring but bring attention to the fact that Republicans are cutting health care to many.

Blide

At its core, behind all the political blustering, is that it's a procedural thing and the Republicans not having enough votes in the Senate to pass a budget without Democrat help but Republicans also not coming to the table to compromise/bargain to get those votes.

The House of Representatives can pass bills with a simple majority and also have the "power of the purse" so they must initiate budget bills and anything to do with how money is spent.  The Senate has a rule that requires 60 out of 100 votes to pass a bill.  The Republicans have the simple majority in the House of Representatives.  The Republicans have the majority in the Senate but DO NOT have the 60 (they only have 53).

Because the Republicans don't have the 60 votes, the Democrats have a chance, as the minority party, to force the Republicans to compromise.  There was a past piece of legislation that was passed (the so called "Big Beautiful Bill") that planned to sunset healthcare subsidies that were implemented during COVID.  However, many Americans have now come to depend on those subsidies to pay for their healthcare costs.  The subsidies are due to expire at the end of this year.  The Democrats have made the healthcare subsidies the issue and have said they want to negotiate now on them to ensure there is action.  The Republicans want to pass a continuing resolution to maintain spending now and then come to the table to negotiate later and get something done before the end of the year.

The reason the Dems have dug in so hard though is really two fold.  The first is a timeline thing, which we have now blown past, as open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) started on Nov 1 and insurance companies would've had to set their premium costs based on if the subsidies will or will not be in play beyond this year.  The second is a trust issue.  The Democrats do not feel that they can trust that the Republicans will actually show up to negotiate in good faith if they pass the bill.  Or if the Republicans do negotiate and hammer out a deal, that Trump won't either veto it or turn around in a few weeks and not use the money as intended, which he has already done a number of times this year, and the Republicans have not put up any resistance to him doing it.  

So that's why the Democrats are digging in now and refusing to do anything until those healthcare subsidies are discussed and something is put in place that Trump can't follow through.  But so far the Republicans refuse to negotiate and are insisting its their way or no way.

The one other thing that has been whispered but hasn't seriously been considered is the "nuclear option" which would change the Senate rules and lower the threshold to pass bills there by simple majority.  It's already been changed for confirming judges and cabinet appointments but no one on either side is super excited about the idea of doing it for bills.  It's fine in the short-term for the majority party but that party doesn't stay in the majority forever and when the sides flip, suddenly the now minority party will have no defense to watching the other side pass their agenda unchecked.  No one wants that.

akamikedavid

One of the provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill was cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Additionally ending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare. This will cause many people's premiums on their Healthcare to skyrocket.

While Republicans do control both chambers of Congress as well as the presidency, they do not have enough of a majority to get around the legislative filibuster. (60 votes in the Senate). As such, they need at least 7 Democrats to cross the aisle to reopen the government. 

Dems feel like this is their one shot to have any leverage to get any sort of concession and they want a carve out for those subsidies to not expire. Republicans have pushed back on this saying that Dems real goal is to extend Healthcare to undocumented immigrants. 

Dems also have had a reputation of being cowards legislatively and not fighting the Trump administration for any sort of concessions, and feels their base wants them to stand on business and fight this one to the end. Republicans feel their base doesn't want any cooperation with Dems.

Trump has floated asking Republicans to nuke the filibuster entirely, but theres hesitation to do that as well because of fear of what Dems can do with that same power when they get back in majority.

There's so many off ramps where you could apply fault to one side or another. But the main idea is both sides have been poisoned by the extreme wings of their bases that compromise is seen as a dirty word.

Tl;dr: Everybody musty. Wash ya ass.

JScrib325

Gerrymandering and citizens united enter the conversation.

HerbEverstanks

They are all guilty. DC exists to further the agenda of the politicians and the elites. Normal folks get screwed.

ThatFyrefighterGuy

Technically the blame is on both of them however if the Democrats fold and go along the American people get screwed hard. While if the Republicans fold and go along we get helped. Either group could end it by compromising with the other.

jackfaire

Republicans have 54 seats in the senate, but 60 is needed to pass legislation. The republicans have refused to negotiate anything with the democrats and just insist they sign the bill as is

Arcticwolf1505

The democrats are not allowing the temporary funding bill to be voted on in the senate because it does not address their concerns about removing the subsidies for ACA (healthcare).  The republicans have not compromised at all on any of their policies nor taken up any of the democrats amendments to the proposed bills.  

In summary, Republicans are acting like bullies and not playing fair. Democrats decided they don’t want to play ball anymore and republicans are saying that’s unfair.

tthrivi

“The President is to blame when there is a shutdown” 

- Trump

brazilliandanny

Thomas Massie has the votes to force a discharge petition of the Epstein Files. Many powerful people and interests (both domestic and foreign) are associated with Epstein in ways that they would not like to have made public.

The Federal Bureacracy needs time to break someone down into changing their vote so that the discharge petition cannot pass when Congress decides to reconvene.

They want us to argue about things other than the Epstein Files.

AJgrizz

The budget needs 60 votes to enact cloture* and be voted on, at which point it will only need 51 votes in the senate to pass. The budget was written largely by Republicans to enable their agenda with some scraps given to Democrats. There was a similar case in March, to which Democratic leadership compromised to keep the government open and, in return, guarantee funding to several Democrat priorities. Over the spring and summer the president used recission to reneg on the guaranteed funding that Democrats negotiated for, with his budget czar making the disingenuous claim that funding bills are a ceiling, not a floor, so they had every right to not deliver the money that had been agreed upon. As a result there really isn't any reason why Democrats should negotiate this time around. They have no guarantee that anything the negotiate for will actually be delivered, after all.  More importantly, though, the 60 votes to enact cloture is a simple rule that can be changed more or less at any time, the so-called "nuclear option." This means that any time Republicans want to re-open the government they can by either negotiating with Democrats who, at this time, are asking for one single thing--an extension of Obamacare subsidies--or by invoking the nuclear option and ending the filibuster.  *Explanation of Cloture: It looks like "closure" but it's not a typo, cloture is the parliamentary term for bringing debate to a close prematurely. In a classic TV/movie filibuster the politician talks and talks and no one can stop them, but in reality someone can motion for cloture (even mid-filibuster) and if the required number of votes (60, in the case of the senate) is met then the filibuster immediately ends and people move on to voting.

rubrent

Democrats won’t sign a bill that guts Medicaid in favor of giving Tax breaks to the 1%. MAGA also wants to keep the government shut down to avoid releasing the Epstein files

KnowledgeCoffee

A similar question on a different thread. The answer (not mine) I thought was well written

Answer: The budget needs 60 votes to enact cloture* and be voted on, at which point it will only need 51 votes in the senate to pass. The budget was written largely by Republicans to enable their agenda with some scraps given to Democrats. There was a similar case in March, to which Democratic leadership compromised to keep the government open and, in return, guarantee funding to several Democrat priorities. Over the spring and summer the president used recission to reneg on the guaranteed funding that Democrats negotiated for, with his budget czar making the disingenuous claim that funding bills are a ceiling, not a floor, so they had every right to not deliver the money that had been agreed upon. As a result there really isn't any reason why Democrats should negotiate this time around. They have no guarantee that anything the negotiate for will actually be delivered, after all.

More importantly, though, the 60 votes to enact cloture is a simple rule that can be changed more or less at any time, the so-called "nuclear option." This means that any time Republicans want to re-open the government they can by either negotiating with Democrats who, at this time, are asking for one single thing--an extension of Obamacare subsidies--or by invoking the nuclear option and ending the filibuster.

*Explanation of Cloture: It looks like "closure" but it's not a typo, cloture is the parliamentary term for bringing debate to a close prematurely. In a classic TV/movie filibuster the politician talks and talks and no one can stop them, but in reality someone can motion for cloture (even mid-filibuster) and if the required number of votes (60, in the case of the senate) is met then the filibuster immediately ends and people move on to voting.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/s/Y8qC15h2iM

Neat-Morning7232

Liberals want to release the Epstein files, and a new liberal was elected in Arizona. The conservatives controls enough of the government that theyre effectively preventing swearing her in, so she cant go to work and represent her constituents. If she does get sworn in, she'd be the tie breaking vote to release the Epstein files. 

The conservatives also hate Obama and everything he did. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare its sometimes called) was due for its continuation. The conservatives dont want to continue it, and if it ends, most Americans will have *extremely* inflated Healthcare costs. The liberal party doesnt want that to happen, and the conservatives *barely* dont have enough votes to pass the continuing resolution to fund the government without working a *tiny* bit with the liberals. So the liberal party told the conservative party that the conservatives could get *almost everything* they want in the budget bill as long as they keep the affordable healthcare part. The conservatives stomped their feet, and hoped enough Americans are dumb enough to blame the liberals. 

The conservative party is manipulating the tiniest shred of truth to get people to believe dozens of lies. This shutdown on the conservatives completely. They want to get their way 100%, and are throwing a bratty fit about only getting 99%.

Malakai0013

one thing to be very clear about.

in USA politics, there are massive propaganda machines, that spew propaganda 24/7.  Like Fox News, and a host of other even nuttier channels (i.e. cable/satellite channels).  Additionally, an army of podcasters.

In the current administration, the white house itself, and the president press secretary, and the speaker of the house, are all flat out propaganda sources.  They state things that are clearly false, constantly.

And propaganda works very very well, highly successful.  Half the country wants the propaganda.

So, in trying to figure out the facts, look for news sources that are factual.

Reuters seems pretty good.  AP news.  PBS news.  BBC news.   Ground News.   Straight Arrow News seems good, I just started looking at that. 

And, even though maga would lose their shit, NPR news rates very highly on being factual. 

Now, for the answer:  Republicans need 60% of the vote in the senate to force this, they require several democrats to vote for it.  The bill has many issues with it:

1) it isn't just a budget, but it is doing legislation, i.e basically making new laws.  That is not how the fed gov is supposed to work.  Congress makes laws, not the executive. Source: Trump - stating that when the budget passes, they have achieved all their goals, and don't have to work anymore for the rest of the term.

2) guts healthcare for millions, as you've read in many comments

3) fiscally irresponsible.

There is an additional factor going on,  republicans want the government shut down, because if they swear in election winners (i.e. democrat Adelita Grijalva) then congress can demand the Epstein files get released publicly, and the republicans will never let this happen.  You may speculate on why that is the factual truth.

Apprehensive-Care20z

Americas shitty voting habits is the actual cause of this

staresinamerican

If someone tells you that it’s both sides or Democrats, they are lying. Full stop. No debate. The GOP control all branches of government and for the most part, have left DC and aren’t meeting with their constituents. Democrats are still in DC to debate, compromise, and in short, do their jobs but the GOP don’t want to. Easier to cash their paycheck (which they still get despite the government being shutdown) and blame democrats despite having all the power

PredatorAvPFan

One answer that you aren’t getting is that it’s the fault of every president and Congress that was fine with continued deficit spending and hoping that another generation will pick up the tab. Start with Reagan, brief pause under Clinton, and then everyone since.

Hoosier108

The real problem is the dysfunctional nature of our political system. It's outdated; it no longer serves the nation's interests as it currently exists, and now we have 24/7 news and social media fueling the flames. This is only the beginning; I suspect that we could see even more problems in the future.

KBAR1942

The question is are you paying attention to the people doing the doing?

WHAT is YOUR opinion on who is obviously at fault

RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES

No_Introduction7307

Republicans don't realize Charlie Brown is done trying to kick the football. They've used up all their good will. They have not made a negotiation in good faith since Trump came along so Dems aren't gonna back down on getting the ACA and Medicaid and Medicare funding. However, Republicans don't actually need Dems to open the government. They could use the nuclear option and open the government with a simple majority if they wanted to. Trump came out and asked them to yesterday and they said no. Which tells me he didn't actually want them to and he just wanted to be able to say he tried. If he wanted the government open they would do it

justlookin-0232

Honest-Bridge-7278

Donald J Trump and Republicans are in charge of both the Congress and the executive branches of our government and as such bear full responsibility for the shut down.

edgarjwatson

Republicans have all branches and a large enough majority to pass anything they want. Anyone blaming Democrats has no idea how the system works

beartpc12293

In any shutdown it’s either the party who controls all three branches or the party who refuse to negotiate.

In this case both of these parties would be the republicans.

oboejoe92

Republican rhetoric in the last 12 years has been anti-establishment and anti-poor, republicans are not voting to approve the affordable care act, they are illegally withholding nutrition assistance funding, they’re refusing to swear in an elected official to avoid having the Epstein files released

Democrats have always tried to play with white gloves and in doing so have allowed the mechanisms of facism and oligarchy work freely

BrainwashedScapegoat

"A shutdown falls on the president's lack of leadership. I mean, problems start from the top, and they have to get solved from the top. A shutdown means the president is weak."

-Donald J. Trump, 2013

Siafu_Soul

As an American, it seems that it's the Republicans fault. Why? Because they get what they want of the government is shut down or if the Dems cave and agree that negotiation isn't necessary. 

If the government is shut down, the president can use it as an excuse to garner more and more power, which he's been doing (see bombing of "drug" boats, sending trips to US cities, creating a false sense of urgency by refusing to provide food even though they already have the funds for this scenario, and trying to not babysit furloughed workers). 

If the Dems cave, then it's business as usual where they can continue to do whatever they want because they hold the three branches of government.

tev4short

The republicans have laid it out on the table; they will take away food stamps until the democrats agree to let them raise the rates on health care through the roof. Meanwhile they just borrowed 3.7 trillion to lower taxes for their friends.

smedlap

Who has control of the house, senate, and White House?

goodbye177

In the end, the people who voted for Trump are.

Holdthemuffins

if we withheld their paychecks this would never be an issue.

Ornery-Dragonfruit96

Objectively...it really is Trump more than just the Republican party or Dem party. There is some enabling going on but Trump doesn't want to negotiate. He feels he can float things long enough to make the Dems crack and then he has them broken and his base and their elected representation in his hand. 

I think it was March when the Dem leadership took a beating from their supporters for allowing the budget to go through that allowed some taxes to sunset. GOP said then they would not touch Medicaid/Medicare/SS and other programs...the Big Bill did all that and more. Now the Dems don't see they are dealing with a reliable partner.

slatchaw

slapdashjesse

Just a heads up that you’re going to get a lot of biased answers here. Just want you to know that if you’re looking for objective answers.

No_Use__For_A_Name

 The budget can pass with a simple majority. 

Which party has the majority in both congress and the senate? 

That's who's caused the shutdown.

Dry-Honeydew2371

This always happens in heated congressional disputes. Both parties accuse the other even when one party knows full well that their own people are at fault. You can see it in Speaker Mike Johnson’s face in hallway interviews. It’s a neat trick of modern technology that any bozo like me with a phone and a laptop can download his interviews from the past week and compare them to ones in March or April. Crestfallen is a word I think of.

So yeah, you can make a technical argument that the Democrats are causing all this problem because they won’t sign on the dotted line to gut Medicaid the ACA/Obama care and SNAP/food stamps drastically while at the same time giving a 3 1/2 trillion dollar tax cut to the wealthiest 5% among us, separated by a few hundred words of text in the same bill.  

Yeah, you can make that argument, but it would be wrong. The words unprecedented and historic are almost meaningless recently in the US. But hey, I would put this cutoff of food aid along with the destruction of the entire east wing of the White House last week as the breaking point starting point fulcrum straw that really pissed the camel off. And it has Donald Trump and the GOP’s fingerprints all over it.

Old, mad, blind, despised, and dying King DJT

Googlyelmoo

Reddit is going to tell you its Republicans. Dont need to read a single comment to know how the question was going to be answered. The government as a whole is failing the people. Not a single one of them is struggling. They keep getting richer on both sides of the aisle. None of them have to live by the rules that they put in place for the average citizen. Do you really think they feel the effect of half of the bills they pass? Are their medical benefits effected? Hell they are still getting a paycheck. That is Republicans and Democrats. They both play a part in keeping it shutdown.

fellofftheporch

I think it really comes down to our health care. We don’t have universal healthcare. The democrats got us healthcare through the Affordable Care Act which really is just insurance many have to buy. The prices of the insurance is extremely high for many, though not everyone. During Covid, the democrats subsidized the insurance which bought the cost down.  So now that they’re trying to put a budget together, republicans don’t want to continue with the subsidies, democrats do.  Democrats will argue that people will be left without healthcare without the subsidies; republicans say that the fact that the program doesn’t work without the subsidies show that its broken.  They could use a continuing resolution and open the government and debate the subsidies, but it seems like the subsidies have become the line in the sand.

parana72

Gobiortiz3377

The Republicans hold the congress, senate, and white house, as well as "non-partisan" bodies like the Supreme Court, but some votes require democrat support.

While Republicans use their majority to run rough shod over everything, with cutting funding to services but only for blue states, for sending ICE into blue cities to attrat, detain, assault and kidnap americnan citizens, and pissing on everyone but telling them its actually just raining, the democrats said "look, if youngsters us to back your bill, you need to compromise in good faith faith, we will only support it if you grant this and that" Republicans said "No.

Then a dmeocrat win an election and tips the balance on a controversial vote about the epstein files. Note its only controversial because one side wants to protect pedos. So the Republicans figured "Ok, lets not negotiate over the shutdown, if government shuts down, the new democrat isn't sworn in, if she's not sworn in, there is no epstein vote and rhe pedos stay safe"

So democrats say "Look, your getting real close to zero hour, a government shutdown will hurt alot of people, both red and blue" and the Republicans said "those are a sacrifice we're willing to make, get wrekt libs! We must protect pedophiles"

And the shutdown down happened.

So its kind of like when an abusive husband blames his battered wife for leaving him no option but to HAVE to beat her because she's just too much of a bitch to let him do whatever he wants, like get drunk for 23 hours a day and fuck the neighbour, and the neighbours underage daughter.

Tallproley

The critical parts of the government are still running, though a huge number of people are going unpaid. For example, the TSA continues to operate allowing flights to continue, but the workers are currently not getting paid.

Adnan7631

The United States is a federal system. Think of New York, California, Texas, etc. as being equivalent to France, Germany, Italy, etc. If the European Union government shut down because parliament couldn't agree on a budget, there will probably be *some* individuals effected by it, but for the majority of the people in the member states, they are probably going to carry on like it's business as usual. We all still need to pay our bills and put food on the table, after all.

The United States government is shut down, but the governments of each state are still operational. The vast majority of laws that restrict individual behavior, for example, are state level laws. If you murder someone in the U.S., you're not typically being arrested by federal authorities and tried in a federal court. It'll be state level or even municipal police forces that arrest you, and you'll be tried in a state court. So it does not descend into lawlessness, because the primary enforcers of laws are the states.

SillyAmericanKniggit

There are also lots of parts of the government that are deemed too important to stop, and they just don't pay those workers till after the shutdown ends. Like air traffic controllers. If Air traffic controllers were not exempt, the shutdown would probably be counted in hours not weeks.

AgentGnome

The US federal government shutdown has extended into its 35th day, tying the record for the longest shutdown in history, causing significant effects on the economy and public services.

US Government Shutdown

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