A 43-Day Shutdown Ends: The Leadership Shortage Doesn’t.
- Talya Davis
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
As Congress celebrates a short-term deal, Americans are still paying the price for political brinkmanship.
By Talya Davis
TALLAHASSEE, Fl — Last week, the federal government reopened after a grueling 43-day shutdown; the longest in American history. But as federal workers finally return to their desks, and Americans pick up the pieces, the stress caused by the shutdown is eminent.
For more than a month, the basic functions of our democracy were held hostage by political brinkmanship. Nearly a million federal workers were furloughed, millions more were forced to work without pay, SNAP programs strained to stay afloat, flights were cut at major airports, and key economic data simply stopped.
“I witnessed firsthand people - seniors - on fixed income who did not have enough resources to buy food,” said Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell in an interview with MeidasTouch. “Never in the history of this country — during war or an emergency shutdown — has the government ever stopped funding SNAP for our most vulnerable.”
While leaders in Washington debated tax credits and spending levels, constituents were left holding the consequences. Canceled flights, missed SNAP disbursements and a lack of government worker paychecks for 40 days caused damages that will be difficult for the American people to recover from.
The reopening should feel like a relief, and for many, it is. Agencies are restarting, back pay is processing, and the FAA has lifted flight restrictions that had snarled holiday travel. But we shouldn’t mistake motion for progress.
A government that can shut down for 43 days and reopen with a temporary patch is not a government that has solved its problems. It is a government that has postponed them.
The funding bill only carries us to January 30. With ACA benefits not being renewed in this resolution, the policy disputes that triggered the shutdown haven’t been resolved. Congress is still promising a separate vote on ACA tax credits, the very debate that fueled this crisis. In other words: the United States will be right back to a shutdown if nothing changes.
“There was zero chance of dealing with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) issue as long as the shutdown continued,” said Senator Angus King. “Now, I don’t know about 50/50, but there’s a lot better chance now than there was this morning because nothing was happening.”
What this shutdown revealed is that everyday Americans feel the impact of Washington’s dysfunction long before elected officials ever do. Students lost research access, federal employees drained savings, families braced for delays in nutrition assistance, and travelers hit airport chaos while lawmakers gave press conferences and pointed fingers.
This is not how a healthy democracy operates. The public is left to bear the consequences while elected officials prioritize political battles over the people they represent.
Americans need leaders who view governance not as a battlefield, but as a responsibility. They need lawmakers who understand that political wins mean nothing if the country loses stability. It is time for a political culture where negotiation isn’t seen as weakness, but as the foundation of functional democracy.
The government may be open today, but the deeper question remains: Will America’s political leaders finally choose effectiveness over theatrics? Or will the government be back here again in a few months, reliving another avoidable crisis?
If this shutdown taught us anything, it’s that the American people deserve better and they’re tired of waiting for Washington to catch up.
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Talya Davis