The federal government shut down at midnight on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, after lawmakers failed to resolve a spending dispute, marking the first funding lapse in nearly seven years.

A House-passed Republican bill to extend spending for seven weeks failed in the Senate, where Democrats are demanding the extension of health care tax credits in exchange for their support.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed or work without pay until Congress reaches a deal.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, discusses the shutdown.

“This is what's different about this moment compared to all the previous shutdown moments, and that is that President Trump is planning—at least he's saying he's going to do this, and he seems to be taking steps toward doing this—to very aggressively use this moment of a shutdown to make further changes in government, to remove more federal workers, to rescind funding that's been appropriated,” Reeher tells LiveNOW from FOX.

“He's going to try to use this moment to do a lot more of that. That could change not only the way this plays out politically, but what its ultimate effects are. That's the big wildcard. And that's the thing I think we really can't predict,” he says.

In the Daily Kos article, “The shutdown is Republicans’ fault—so why are voters mad at Democrats?” Reeher says, “Republicans have historically been more loyal. That has wavered in a couple of elections, but it’s been generally true. The other advantage is that the Republicans currently have a president in office, and presidents have often fared better than Congress. So, in part, it’s a ‘president effect.’”