The shutdown enters its fourth week as blame-shifting continues
By Easton Martin | October 21, 2025
The government shutdown is officially entering its fourth week, leaving many Americans rightly concerned. After all this time, there appears to be no progress toward agreeing on a funding package.
Senate Democrats have now rejected a GOP-led clean funding bill for the eleventh time. Their main point of contention is the looming expiration of healthcare subsidies, which would cause ACA prices to rise substantially. Democrats see the shutdown as their best leverage and are trying to bring Republicans to the table by stalling government funding. Each party, of course, is quick to blame the other for the ongoing stalemate.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries showed little interest in taking responsibility for the impasse:
“This is day 20 of the Trump Republican shutdown, and the government remains closed because Republicans have zero interest in actually providing affordable health care to everyday Americans.”
Notice how Jeffries reframes the shutdown, not in terms of Democrats’ refusal to vote on clean funding bills, but as Republicans’ refusal to cave on Democratic healthcare subsidies. While Democrats aren’t wrong to argue for healthcare funding, it seems a step too far to use a government shutdown as leverage and then turn around to blame Republicans and President Trump.
No matter how you slice it, this isn’t the “Trump Republican shutdown.” It’s the Democratic healthcare shutdown. And that’s okay to admit, because it’s the most honest way to describe what’s happening.
