On October 1st, 2025, the United States government shut down for the first time in seven years, lasting a total of 43 days. The shutdown resulted in 1.4 million federal employees going without pay for weeks, thousands of cancelled or delayed flights for airline passengers, and the suspension of SNAP benefits to hundreds of low-income American families. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps, helps low-income individuals and families with monthly benefits towards food purchases.
Why did this happen? Shutdowns over budgets are a unique aspect of the United States government. In the U.S. government, both chambers of Congress must approve a spending plan before it is sent to the President for approval. Currently, the Republican Party controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In September, a new federal spending bill fell short of the 60 votes from the Democratic Party required to pass. According to BBC, the Democratic Party’s main demand was that the bill should include an extension of expiring tax credits that make health insurance cheaper for millions of Americans (BBC).
After 43 days, marking the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, the stalemate finally came to an end. A deal was struck between moderate members of the Senate to reopen the government under the provisions that the Democrats had advocated for. According to National Public Radio, “The reason they didn’t hold out longer, this group said, was because it was obvious President Trump and congressional Republicans weren’t going to negotiate, and too many people were suffering. The Trump administration — correctly — gambled that enough Democrats would not be able to stomach the amount of pain the administration was willing to inflict on the 42 million recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and more than 3 million federal workers”.
The signed bill will fund the government until January 30th with carveouts for SNAP benefits targeted at women, infants, and children, or WIC, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Congress. The bill Congress passed to reopen the government funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through September 2026. There is also money for increased security for members of Congress, executive branch officials, judges, and Supreme Court justices (NPR).
Naturally, this temporary solution begs the question: what will happen after January 30th? Will the government shut down again? Time will tell.
