Congressman Mike Johnson talks about potential government shutdown
“Logistics are a challenge.” House Speaker Mike Johnson said a brief government shutdown may be inevitable.
Do you want to shut down? What shutdown?
There was a time when a federal government shutdown seemed like a big deal. Thirty years ago, a firestorm over a 21-day government shutdown restored President Bill Clinton’s office and seriously damaged the office of Speaker New Gingrich.
But the partial shutdown that began at midnight on Jan. 31 didn’t generate as much buzz over the weekend as the early, almost entirely negative reviews for Netflix’s “Melania,” the first lady’s foray into documentary filmmaking.
Parts of the Pentagon, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Transportation were left without regular funding, even though they were ordered to begin an “orderly shutdown” of at least several days. Late Friday, the Senate passed five spending bills to fund them, but the House cannot begin considering the bills until it reconvenes on Monday.
It is believed that there is a good chance of passing there, but it is not guaranteed. Democratic leaders have not yet weighed in. Some Republican hardliners have expressed opposition.
If left unresolved, it will cost the Department of Homeland Security even more money. Those funds are embroiled in a fierce battle over a Democratic proposal, now supported by some Republicans, to impose limits on the actions of ICE agents whose aggressive tactics killed protesters Renee Good and Alex Preti in Minneapolis.
If the Trump administration and the Senate reach a deal, negotiators will have two more weeks to deal with another looming issue that could lead to a government shutdown.
What once seemed like a sign of government in crisis is now seen by many in Washington as just another day at the office. Unless a clear catastrophe occurs, such as air travel for millions of Americans being disrupted or records are broken, government shutdowns have lost their power to shock.
That doesn’t mean the shutdown is free for federal employees or ordinary Americans.
TSA lines were crowded at some airports, and about 670,000 government workers were furloughed during the previous shutdown. While members of the military were required to report for duty, some military families turned to food banks to protect their families.
A report released by the Congressional Research Service on January 29 estimated that the six-week government shutdown cost the U.S. economy about $11 billion in lost spending and productivity.
There is a long way to go before the current shutdown challenges the record set last fall. The move was prompted by Democratic demands for more subsidies for people who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
By the way, this issue is still being discussed.
Do you trust the government?
One reason closures are so often the story of people who have been bitten by dogs is that what was once considered a shocking last resort has become relatively common.
In the half-century since the federal budget process was overhauled in 1976, there have now been 23 of them, hitting every administration except Presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden.
Ronald Reagan had the most, with eight, but each time was just a few days. Trump had the longest score. The previous record of 35 days set during his first term over funding for his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was replaced by a 43-day shutdown during his second term.
Another reason is that the federal government is now considered by many to be routinely dysfunctional, so the budget impasse is seen as just one example of a broader breakdown.
In a Pew Research Center poll released in December, only 17% of Americans said they trust the government in Washington to always do the right thing.
When this question was first asked by the National Election Survey in 1958, an overwhelming 73% of Americans had that level of trust in the government.
Since then, views on government have waxed and waned over the generations. They declined during the Vietnam War and Watergate, but revived during the rosy economic era from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. However, the surge following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2011 collapsed in the wake of the 2008 Iraq war and financial collapse.
Today’s poll results show that only about 1 in 6 Americans express trust in the government, one of the lowest in 70 years.
When it’s easy to sign your name
Washington has also set low public expectations that action will be taken on almost anything.
The 119th Congress, which took office in January 2025, is on track to enact the fewest bills in decades, according to statistics reported by GovTrack.us.
The bill President Trump signed into law in 2025 included sweeping tax cuts known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But the president imposed many of his most far-reaching policies not by passing laws but by signing a record 228 executive orders, including imposing tough tariffs, ordering mass deportations, reforming federal agencies and deploying the National Guard to the streets of American cities.
It turns out that funding the government, one of Congress’ fundamental duties, is at issue.
Another shutdown?
Yawn.
