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Govt. shutdown continues as mass layoffs begin

An eighth vote to reopen the government is slated for Tuesday evening, although authorities expect it will fail.

Pressure is mounting on Congress to end the government shutdown, which has now lasted for two weeks, as both sides continue to drag their feet.

While Republicans have blamed the shutdown — which President Donald Trump dubbed the “Schumer Shutdown” after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — on their opponents, Democrats counter that they cannot “trust President Trump to follow through on a deal” regarding healthcare if they break the deadlock.

An eighth vote to refund the government is slated for Tuesday evening, although authorities expect it will fail.

The Conflict

As Convention of States previously reported, Democrats, who seek to extend Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) tax credits set to expire at the end of the year, have been unable to reach an agreement with Republicans, who either oppose the subsidies outright or believe they need to be reformed.

On the one hand, Vice President JD Vance has conceded that the Obamacare tax credits “go to some people deservedly,” but that the administration wants to ensure they “go to the people who need them.”

Others, like Rep. Chip Roy, have implored his party not to go “wobbly” on Obamacare.

“Republicans must prove that we are for healthcare freedom and against socialized medicine,” the congressman wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal. “If we cave on these expensive and outdated subsidies, achieving our goals will be nearly impossible.”

“Making such concessions would make us look weak, saying we’re for one thing and doing another,” he added.

Military Funding

Over the weekend, Trump eliminated a major pressure point on Congress, announcing he had reshuffled funds to ensure military service members would receive their next paycheck on Wednesday.

“If nothing is done, because of ‘Leader,’ Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “That is why I am using my authority, as Commander in Chief, to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th. We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS.”

Although potentially hundreds of thousands of government civilian employees have already missed out on their paychecks, Washington insiders assumed that the Wednesday deadline for military families would incentivize Congress to reach an agreement. Now, some have suggested they may not feel the pressure again until open enrollment begins on November 1.

“The closer to Nov. 1, a lot of these elected officials are going to start hearing from their constituents,” Sen. Ruben Gallego argued.

Mass Layoffs

In the meantime, Trump has made good on his promise to implement mass layoffs during the shutdown, with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought writing on Friday that the “RIFs [reductions in force] have begun.”

Whereas government workers are typically furloughed during shutdowns, Vought clarified he wanted permanent cuts, “not furloughs.”

Up to 4,000 workers across multiple agencies, including Interior, Homeland Security, Treasury, EPA, Commerce, Education, Energy, HHS, and HUD, reportedly face dismissal. Trump made it clear that the selective layoffs would be partisan in nature: “We’re only cutting Democrat programs,” he said.

The administration will likely face lawsuits over the RIFs, which the Democrats have decried as illegal.

The Solution

The nation may be divided over the mass layoffs and who’s responsible for the shutdown, but this much we can agree on: Congress has failed us.

An institution that cannot even make a basic budget work (something every business, local government, and family is expected to do) clearly should not be trusted to address topics as pressing as $37 trillion in national debt. We the People must stage an intervention by calling an Article V convention to propose amendments limiting federal spending, power, and terms of office.

Congress has repeatedly demonstrated its inability (or unwillingness) to resolve the issues that matter the most to its constituents. Fortunately, the Constitution provides a second option: working through the states.

Let the politicians in Washington play their silly games. We’ve got a solution as big as the problem. It’s time to use it.

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Created:	2025-10-14 21:06 GMT
Updated:	2025-10-21 07:00 GMT
Published:	2025-10-14 20:00 GMT
Converted:	2025-11-11 12:07 GMT
Change Author:	Jakob Fay
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