The longest government shutdown in US history is officially over. Seven Democrats and one Independent broke party lines to reopen the government. There will be no extended subsidies for Obamacare. Chuck Schumer encouraged his party to protest against the American people in favor of absurd policies that would not benefit the majority. Was it worth it?
Estimates suggest that the shutdown added between $15 billion and $30 billion to the US national debt per week. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted that a four-week shutdown would cause US GDP to drop by 1% for Q4 2025.
Over 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while another 730,000 were forced to work without pay. The average federal worker lost around $10,000 during this shutdown. Congress did not go a day without pay despite their refusal to work. The shutdown expanded to 4.5 million when accounting for federal civilians and military members. Approximately 1.3 million active-duty troops experienced financial stress. Over 750,000 National Guard members were forced to continue working without pay.
American military families were sent to food banks for assistance after the politicians they fought for refused to fight for them. An anonymous donor sent the Pentagon $130 million to assist the military during the shutdown. Generous, patriotic, but also dystopian. The Pentagon could not even immediately receive the gift without going through the appropriate Ethics Official regulations, since the gift was in excess of $10,000. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration reallocated $8 billion from defense research to pay military personnel.
Over 40 million people lost SNAP food benefits. Airports came to a near standstill, impacting numerous sectors. The nation’s division became a global spectacle. Yet, at no point during the chaos did the Democrats agree to back down on their stipulations. Their temporary resolution still demanded an extension for Obamacare subsidies, among other outlandish items, and in the end the negotiations completely backfired—they walked away with nothing.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted against the final resolution on Monday night, as did all but seven Democrats. Defeated and embarrassed, the Democrats have largely turned on Schumer and are calling for his resignation.
Chuck Schumer should step down. pic.twitter.com/6OhX2cCo9u
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) November 10, 2025
“I’m not going to put a blade in my leader,” said Sen. John Fetterman who has been openly critical of the shutdown and Democratic Party in general. Fetterman said it would be hard for Schumer to win back the “indivisible” party members, or leftist extremists. “This has happened over and over. You cannot defend democracy effectively if you are not united as an opposition party, and we are repeatedly showing that we are not united,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said.
The Democrats are too divided to continue existing as a united party—confirmed by the longest shutdown in US history.