Shutdowns
Trump Shutdowns
As of March 2026 there were two shutdowns in Trump’s first term, and so far two in the second term.
The October 2025 shutdown was because the GOP did not want to continue affordable healthcare for Americans, and the February 2026 shutdown was because the GOP didn’t want guardrails placed on ICE agents to prevent further harm to or executions of American citizens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_United_States
https://www.thoughtco.com/government-shutdown-history-3368274
2025 October
2025-10-01 In response to the government shutdown, the Trump administration furloughed 96% of NRCS staff, effectively freezing conservation programs and the processing of financial aid and contracts for farmers.
https://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/how-the-government-shutdown-is-impacting-farmers/
2025-10-01 During the shutdown Republicans falsely claimed Democrats were trying to give free Medicare to immigrants.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/government-shutdown-clock/
https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/american-rescue-plan/
2025-10-01 The White House posted partisan anti-Democrat shutdown messaging across federal websites (research the Hatch Act and violating it). Messages included “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government” and “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people”.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/government-shutdown-clock/
2025-10-02 In two closely timed interviews, Karoline Leavitt told reporters servicemembers were not receiving pay due to the shutdown right after Russell Vought said servicemembers were.
2025-10-02 In response to the shutdown Trump pulled $8 billion in clean-energy funding from Democratic-led states.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-clean-energy-hydrogen-hub-newsom-0223cb4469508bcea4f689c18c9ab65d
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115304455138824245
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115302268694968810
2025-10-07 Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks said she would hold town halls “when hell freezes over”, saying, “I don’t have to hold a town hall so you can come and yell at me”.
2025-10-09 The FAA canceled $6.7 million in infrastructure grants for Indianapolis International Airport, citing it did not align with Trump’s priorities.
2025-10-09 Trump suggested some federal employees affected by the shutdown might not get their back pay, “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about. We’re gonna take care of our people, there are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way”.
2025-10-10 Speaker Mike Johnson canceled House votes during the shutdown, delaying the swearing-in of Representative Adelita Grijalva and efforts to release Epstein files.
2025-10-10 In a retaliatory move to the government shutdown, the Trump administration fired 4000 federal workers, withheld backpay, and cut funds. Meanwhile they’re asking for ballroom funds, suing the IRS, building a J6 slush fund and paying Argentina?
2025-10-14 RFK Jr. fired more than 1,000 CDC doctors and scientists during the shutdown
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/cdc-rfk-jr-shutdown-layoffs-goal-rcna237035
2025-10-15 A US District Judge had to step in and block the Trump administration from going forward with their plans to mass-fire thousands of federal employees who had been furloughed during the shutdown.
https://apnews.com/article/shutdown-layoffs-judge-trump-fdcb16f91c94d7bf73977e8968210b0e
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/15/trump-administration-layoffs-order-00609833
2025-10-16 Trump proposed building a giant “victory arch” overlooking Arlington Cemetery.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7e8lv176go
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/16/nx-s1-5576506/president-trump-arch-us-250th-anniversary
https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/German_Arch_of_Triumph
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/31/trump-arch-washington-dc-america-250-00708590
https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/German_Arch_of_Triumph
2025-10-31 Trump hosted a lavish Halloween party for his billionaire friends, hours before SNAP benefits expired.
2025 November
2025-11-02 Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins perpetuated SNAP fraud claims on social media and praised Trump for withholding food assistance.
https://x.com/SecRollins/status/1985007736896053318
2025-11-03 Despite court orders, Trump continued delaying SNAP funding, at times proposing partial or no release of funds
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-defies-court-snap-ruling
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/g-s1-96296/trump-deadline-contingency-funds-snap
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/nx-s1-5596121/snap-food-benefits-trump-government-shutdown
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-administration-partially-fund-snap-months/story?id=127138175
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/04/trump-snap-funding-shutdown-food-aid-00635141
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/politics/trump-administration-supreme-court-snap-benefits
2025-11-04 Trump continued to weaponize SNAP benefits posting on his social media account he would continue to leverage food for millions of Americans until the “Radical Left Democrats open up government”.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115492285081397189
2025-11-10 The Agriculture Department threatened to penalize states that didn’t “undo” steps to fully fund SNAP.
https://factkeepers.com/trump-administration-threatens-states-that-dont-undo-full-snap-payments/
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/09/nx-s1-5603417/full-snap-benefits-trump-states-order
2025-11-10 Eight Democratic senators joined Republicans in voting to reopen the government without additional concessions, and nobody voted to take back the $40B bailout that Trump gave to Argentina.
https://time.com/7332610/8-senators-broke-with-democrats-to-end-government-shutdown/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-democrats-vote-end-government-shutdown/
https://meidasnews.com/news/republicans-vote-no-on-using-argentina-bailout-money-for-aca-subsidies
2026 March
2026-03-13 Republicans blocked measures to fund TSA, FEMA and other agencies including legislation by Senator Patty Murray to pay TSA agents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrmk6SvbrnA&list=WL&index=2&t=45s
2026-03-17 Trump requested an addition $200B for his elective war in Iran, claiming it, “would be over soon”. Meanwhile hundreds of TSA workers quit their jobs due to no pay while Trump ensured DHS received their paychecks. For contrast, the war in Iraq cost $815B over the course of 13 years. Fast-forward, the US entered a deal with Iran in June to give them $300B for reconstruction.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tsa-absences-double-shutdown-300-quit-airport-security-lines/
https://www.businessinsider.com/tsa-agents-quit-partial-government-shutdown-airport-delays-2026-3
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/only-partial-payday-coming-up-for-most-dhs-employees
https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-us-pentagon-972ec1bd956a2c3633e6ab7fff389791
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/19/hegseth-iran-war-budget.html
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/19/politics/iran-war-cost-republicans-congress
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/19/congress-braces-for-200b-iran-war-request-00835914
2026-03-26 After slamming down Democrat attempts to pass a bill asking to fund TSA, Trump said he would issue an emergency order to ensure TSA employees were paid during the government shutdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETT5qkzk9Lo&list=WL&index=10
https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-hell-sign-order-directing-dhs-pay-tsa/story?id=131441186
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-order-tsa-pay-as-dhs-shutdown-drags-on/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/26/trump-tsa-shutdown-dhs.html
2026-03-27 The proposed funding bill by Democrats to fund TSA workers passed the House, but the GOP Senate warned the bill would be “dead on arrival” once it met the Senate.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj052l1j2no
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/dhs-shutdown-2026-senate-funding-day-42/
2026 April
2026-04-08 The House Freedom Caucus posted “We cannot leave ICE and CBP hanging with nothing but hopes and prayers that reconciliation 2.0 comes together. That’s why we must use reconciliation to fully fund all of the Department of Homeland Security. We can tightly control this process with strict instructions to the various committees involved so no one can sneak in unrelated garbage and distract us from our mission”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWblM9rXip0&list=WL&index=10
https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2026/04/07/House-Freedom-Caucus-Rejects-GOP-Leaders-Plan-Fund-DHS
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5819560-freedom-caucus-dhs-reconciliation/
2026-04-30 The partial government shutdown ended after 75 days.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/30/congress-dhs-tsa-funding.html