The U.S. government shutdown of 2025 is now the third longest in history with no end in sight and no votes despite expectations on Oct. 14, 2025, which has lapsed. The mayhem that unfolded in Congress is a reflection of America’s domestic malaise, crass polarization, partisan divides and absence of consensus-building building, which characterizes its troubled domestic landscape. Both Democrats and Republicans are jostling for power at the expense of the public good, as the former refused to vote unless Republicans implement policies such as extending subsidies to "Obamacare" or the Affordable Care Act, which is due to expire at the end of the year.

However, to consider this shutdown as a routine affair in U.S. politics would be to tell a criminally bare story. It is, instead, a glaring example of U.S. dysfunctionality at home and loss of credibility abroad, with no one but Washington D.C. to blame.

The start of the American fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2025, resulted in a total collapse of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on conditions tied to funding, line items and foreign aid. This prevented Congress from adopting 12 appropriation bills to keep the government functioning. Much of this can be attributed to legislative dysfunctionality, institutional breakdowns and bipartisan brinkmanship.

Take the fact that the Republicans control both Houses in the absence of 60 votes to break obstructions, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), under its director Russ Vought, sought to pursue aggressive shutdowns, including possible layoffs in response to Democrat protests.

These radical steps indicate a break from the past in U.S. politics, where previous differences on funding have transformed into policy warfare and aggression, as sitting down with opposing parties becomes equated with ceding political space.

The result?

Absolute mayhem in the form of deep wounds on the American economy and the average American employee. Over 900,000 federal employees have been furloughed, with dozens more working on a non-premium basis.

Polarization and brinkmanship also resulted in notable breakdowns of federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), national parks, passport and visa issuing agencies, and travel disruptions, which negatively impact the average American consumer.

Military members also risk losing out on pay despite President Donald Trump’s assurances, while families of federal workers are encountering financial hardship by being pushed into food banks and encountering rent delays. Existential threats also include a lack of job security as the administration threatens to fire nonessential staff amid a permanent deadlock.

Political gridlock

These harrowing realities have unfolded amid both Democrats and Republicans trading vitriolic accusations on not just policy, but institutionalism, law and ethics too. Senate majority leader in the House, John Thune, and speaker Mike Johnson, for example, brazenly accused the Democrats of shutting the House down and asserted that the Grand Old Party (GOP) offered an enduring resolution that should have been accepted.

Extreme stances also include the GOP accusing their counterparts of partisan extremism or equating the Democratic drive to restore Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and Medicare cuts with attempts to "bankrupt" the country.

In turn, Democrats have censured the GOP over President Trump’s executive outreach in the form of leveraging federal agencies, emails, websites and official communications to castigate them as a contravention of the Hatch Act. The act bars federal employees from accessing official resources for their own objectives. They also point to the GOP’s intimidation tactics, whereby furloughing employees is being weaponized for wider political gain.

Economic impact

While there are merits to the arguments presented by the Democrats, the scale of accusations and trust deficits on either side points to the domestic decay of American politics, which is having a detrimental impact on the economy and its international credibility.

Weekly damage to the economy from such recklessness amounts to $15 billion a week, with secondary effects encompassing loss of revenue for private contractors, investment delays and critical economic releases such as employment benefits being stifled. This, in turn, results in impediments to the American economy’s functionality alongside the decision-making of the central bank.

Additionally, political blame games, scandalization and accusations erode confidence in U.S. governance, which was already jolted due to previous shutdowns. Such disruption increases instability, dissuades global partners, foreign corporations and governments from engaging with a volatile economy.

How will US solve crisis?

The way forward for the U.S. also remains uncertain. Exit paths, such as having stopgap funding with separate negotiations, encounter roadblocks, as the Republican drive to defer debate on subsidies for Affordable Health Care is fiercely resisted by Democrats who contend that their rivals will renege on their commitments. Even compromise packages would need moderate voices on both sides to play a role in negotiating a deal, which seems far flung, given the level of polarization on display in 2025.

There are further legal repercussions too, in the form of challenges to firings and constitutional violations from the GOP, which can lead to further fractures in the Republican base between pragmatists vouching for a solution to the quagmire and hardliners inclined toward disruption. The involvement of courts to rule on executive overreach could also result in long judicial procedures, keeping the U.S. government in limbo while prolonging the misery of the American citizen.

Polarized country

The 2025 shutdown is also characterized by identity politics, whereby issues such as the ACA are integral to the Democratic policymaking. Similarly, trust deficits have festered amid Republicans potentially providing concessions to their rivals, being equated with weakness or political defeat. The GOP sees the shutdown as prolonging an endless conflict, which entails a prolonged paralysis in the U.S. government in the absence of dialogue and deliberation.

The major casualty however, is the average American. This shutdown is not a budget fight per se, but a tug of war on whether the U.S. government can function amid hyperpolarization. The shutdown is being weaponized to target institutional norms as the administration seeks to consolidate power by sidelining Congressional consensus, which itself stands elusive.

With permanent layoffs, unemployment, accompanying poverty and destitution becoming normalized, the shutdown sets a precedent for future governments in the U.S. to abuse the American citizenry with essential, basic services becoming bargaining chips. American credibility too, which is already damaged due to unconditional support for Israel, democratic backsliding under Trump and lack of regard for freedom of thought, which underpinned America’s system of accountability and transparency, stands dented. This is evident in the millions-strong "No King" protests which have swept the U.S., with opposition leaders such as Bernie Sanders questioning Washington’s brazen disregard for the plight of the average American who is jobless, disillusioned and frustrated.

The shutdown further indicates that a dictatorial approach is running the U.S. government in the absence of strategic foresight. The 2025 shutdown is, hence, not a fiscal dispute. It is a deep crisis of U.S. governance, credibility and democracy.