Longest shutdown in U.S. history ends
By Melanie Arias, November 25, 2025
Three million paychecks reaching more than $14 billion were withheld from federal workers during the 43-day-long U.S. government shut down, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, most missing their first paycheck Oct. 24, 28 or 30.
After the longest shut down in U.S. history ended Nov. 12, the National Treasury Employees Union urged immediate back pay for all federal employees who have been going without compensation for the last six weeks, according to Federal News Network.
The shutdown ended after the U.S. House voted 222-209 on a funding bill, but it does not address the Affordable Care Act extensions Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, among other Democrats, wanted.
“People suffered in this shutdown, especially low-income families,” said Cal Poly Pomona Political Science Club President Sandra Maciel. “The funding (Democrats) pushed for didn’t happen.”
House Democrats, six of whom voted alongside the Republicans to open the government, fought for the extensions that started the government shut down, because tens of millions of Americans would see their health care costs, as premiums ends this year, increase, according to NPR.
Twenty-four million people buy health care plans from Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and most don’t receive insurance through their job or Medicaid, according to NPR. These people can expect their enhanced premium subsidies, which were created under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 in response to COVID-19, to return to their increased original rate.
Those who earn less than 400% of the federal poverty level are likely to get less financial relief in their premiums, and those earning above 400% will see their relief subside, according to CT mirror.
The reason U.S. House Democrats didn’t hold out longer, according to NPR, was because President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans weren’t going to negotiate, and too many people were facing the repercussions, like withheld wages.
The bill passed will fund the government until Jan. 30 and include payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP benefits were cut during the shutdown and will restart, providing users with their full November benefits, according to Newsweek.
The shutdown impacted WIC benefits, housing assistance payments for Voucher 8 holders, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, disability benefits applications and casework as well, according to AAPD.
A small band of Democrats who voted alongside Republicans approved the funding measure to reopen the government Nov. 10. Eight Senate Democrats crossed the aisle and joined the Republicans, bringing the vote to 60-40.
The legislation signed Trump that brought federal workers back to their jobs Nov. 13, according to Reuters.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune told NPR he will hold a vote in mid-December on legislation of the Democrats’ choice aimed at the expiring subsidies.
Democrats only have one month to create a bill that would pass the Senate, as premiums will expire at the end of 2025. If it were to pass the Senate, the bill would also need to go to the House before the year’s end, according to NPR.
“Hopefully they look at the interests of the people and vote in favor of them,” Maciel said.
CPP Professor Carsten Lange said there are possible short-term and long-term effects on the economy due to the government shut down.
“The original impact of the shutdown would be the short-term effects, like buying a car,” Lange said. “You go to the dealership, but then, because you haven’t gotten paid, you can’t buy a car. This creates a ripple effect, and the dealership would make less money and then won’t be able to pay their employees, the long-term effects.”
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the Gross Domestic Product, which is the value of final goods and services produced in the United States, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, will be lower in the fourth quarter of 2025. Additionally, 0.8% GDP was wiped away in economic growth, considering the economy grew by 1.6% in early 2025.
“Nobody is foreseeing long-term effects in the economy because of the shutdown,” said CPP Economics Professor Greg W. Hunter. “I heard that only one-and-a-half percent was shaved off the GDP. The government decreased the national GDP, but it will be shifted to the fourth quarter.”
Feature image courtesy of Christian Magdaleno
