The longest government shutdown in United States history ended on Nov. 12 after 43 days. A bill was passed through the Senate on Nov. 10, the House of Representatives on Nov. 12, and was signed by President Donald Trump that same day.
This resolution provides funding for programs such as the Department of Agriculture, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch appropriations. Funding will also be continued for other agencies, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. However, this only funds the government through Jan. 30, 2026, so the looming threat of another potential shutdown is not too distant.
This bill is an example of temporary spending bills—continuing resolutions—that fund government operations until a specified date when Congress hasn’t passed appropriations bills for an entire fiscal year.
Democrats were expected to oppose the bill because it lacks an extension of tax credits for health insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act, which established health insurance subsidies to help lower or eliminate out-of-pocket costs for monthly health insurance premiums.
“[The enhanced subsidies through the Affordable Care Act] used to make healthcare more accessible, but since they don’t plan on extending them, healthcare insurance will be more expensive. Subsequently, when insurance becomes more expensive, less people will be willing to or able to pay for insurance and have access to healthcare,” vice president of HOSA, senior Dalia Eldawody said.
Notably, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently made the extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare subsidies a key issue in government funding negotiations, refusing to support short-term spending bills that did not address the matter.
However, a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies. Those Congressmembers include Senators Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen, Angus King, and John Fetterman, one of Pennsylvania’s senators.
“I think [the Congressmembers] flipped because they wanted to bring an end to the shutdown, pass a continuing resolution that then gets money going back out to families, and it buys them six more weeks, or eight weeks to figure out a different solution,” social studies teacher Melissa Gartner said, “I feel like those Democrats also took some heat from their own party. But if they were doing it to help Americans who have food insecurity or housing concerns, or the ones who are the most vulnerable in our population, I think they were focusing on the big picture.”
Gartner has experience with the effects of government shutdowns. Her husband has worked for the federal government for 30 years and currently works for the National Weather Service.
“My husband hasn’t been paid since September 30th. The shutdown ended [in] the middle of November, and the federal government is still slowly releasing funds. So we haven’t gotten full retro payback yet,” Gartner said.
The Gartners are one example of the 1.4 million federal employees who were on unpaid leave or working without pay as a result of the government shutdown, and like the Gartners, many have not received back pay yet.
“The sooner money can get to the people who need it, the sooner we move forward, and families can bounce back because I’m sure there were families who had food insecurity and were concerned about heating oil costs,” Gartner said.
Additionally, Eldawody stressed the consequences of the continuing resolution.
“When insurance becomes more expensive…dependency on emergency services will increase, and there will probably be more spread of disease. And alongside people losing SNAP benefits and therefore access to fresh, healthy food, I think that the health of many Americans will be severely negatively affected by this,” she said.
But why is healthcare such a contentious issue in the United States? Gartner speculates that the answer lies in the high costs of medical care and how our tax system functions.
“I know that there are other countries around the world who expect their citizens to pay much higher taxes, but then their medical care is covered. I don’t think Americans would be happy with that because we complain about the tax levels we do have,” Gartner said. “We like to be able to hold onto our money, but then that means we have to cover some things because we’re not giving the government money to pay for them. So we haven’t figured out the right situation yet. And when you’re talking about life and death and financial bankruptcy, I think opinions get really, really heated.”
