Coined 75 years ago by Rufus Miles, the principle that “where you stand depends on where you sit” has stood the test of time. In fact, Miles credits Plato’s 2400 year old book “The Republic” for the concept. And nothing makes the point as well as the tactic of using a government shutdown to force a policy change. Decried and supported by both parties, depending on their agenda at the time, it’s the Democrats turn to argue in support of a shutdown, and the Republicans to oppose it. Except by Republicans, I mean Republican congressional leaders, not President Trump, who has championed the idea and all but directly encouraged Democrats to go for it. And that’s what makes this time even more complicated than usual.
“We want to protect hardworking federal workers… [They] are the ones who have decided to inflict the pain,” said Speaker Mike Johnson on September 25, 2025. Just like then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said on September 30, 2013, when he exclaimed that “a completely unnecessary government shutdown… will hurt our families and communities and threaten our fragile economic recovery. It does not have to happen.”
Both of these leaders were correct. Government shutdowns are bad for everyone, and rarely succeed in getting the desired result. If that was all there was to it, the case against shutting down the government to reverse a decision made by Congress just three months ago would be simple.
But it’s not simple. A third force is also at play – the risk that regardless of the outcome, President Donald Trump and his Budget Director Russell Vought will cut government spending, even after Congress appropriates the funds.
On August 28, 2025, President Trump informed Speaker Johnson that he was rescinding $4.9 billion in funding for the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and International Assistance Programs. On September 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 along partisan lines to reverse a U.S. District Court ruling that ordered the President to release the funds. The cost of this decision alone dwarfs any harm likely to be done by the current government shutdown. A recent article in the British medical journal The Lancet forecasts “the current steep funding cuts— coupled with the potential dissolution of the agency—could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, averaging more than 2.4 million deaths per year.” These deaths, the study said, “include 4.5 million among children younger than 5 years, or more than 700,000 deaths annually.”
Without language in a government funding bill to prevent actions like this, Democrats would be making a deal to open the government that the President has made clear he will not uphold. “We could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they’d be permanently cut,” he said in a recent interview, adding, “I am allowed to cut things that should have never been approved in the first place and I will probably do that.”
Democrats have focused their argument on health care costs, seeking to reverse cuts to additional support for Medicaid and supplements to Obamacare premiums allowed to expire in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Ironically, the 2013 shutdown was also about Obamacare.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, while declaring the shutdown is President Trump’s fault, has made clear that reopening the government must be on his terms. “It’s got to be an agreement”, he said on October 2, 2025, “that actually meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety and their economic well-being in an environment where the Trump economy is increasing costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars a year.”
Leader Jeffries and the Democrats have also emphasized that without language forbidding future recissions, no deal is worth the paper it’s written on. “If we reach a bipartisan agreement, then we’ve got to make sure there are enforceability mechanisms to ensure that the agreement that was reached is actually kept and that the Trump administration follows the law,” Leader Jeffries said.
The Democrats talking points may be working. A recent Washington Post poll found that 47% of respondents blame President Trump and the Republicans for the shutdown, while only 30% blame the Democrats. In 2019, 53% blamed President Trump and Republicans in Congress, compared to 34% who blamed Democrats in Congress. If Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune were the only spokesmen for Republicans, this week’s polling numbers might be reversed. But that’s not likely as the President continues to “trump” the Republican leadership’s message.
Unfortunately, this triangle of distrust, animosity, and retribution isn’t likely to be resolved anytime soon. Certainly not in the next few days, or maybe even the next few weeks, although I hope I’m wrong.
As the government shutdown progresses, hundreds of thousands of federal employees and millions of Americans who rely on government services face growing financial uncertainty. As we detailed in a statement last week, NHC is committed to providing clear and accurate information that helps families navigate the uncertainty. We are deeply concerned about the ability of workers and families to stay current on their rent and mortgage. Housing is the foundation of financial security, and we want to ensure those impacted by the shutdown have clear guidance on the steps they should take to protect themselves.
Hopefully, all of the players in this unfortunate and unnecessary drama will find a compromise. Until then, NHC will continue to update guidance for federal workers and housing stakeholders.