Healthcare Cuts at the Center of Government Shutdown Debate

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This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

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[Update: Tue., Sept. 30, 2025, 9:45pm] Following a deadlock in the Senate, the U.S. government shut down Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. EST for the first time since 2019. The shutdown leave many federal employees either furloughed or forced to work without pay, resulting in disruptions to federal services.

[Original Story] The U.S. government is headed for a shutdown, with the Senate gridlocked on how to fund healthcare for millions of Americans. The government has shut down 21 times in the last half century, with the longest shutdown lasting 35 days in 2019, under the first Trump administration. For the first time, the White House is threatening to make the temporary layoffs that come with a shutdown permanent. 

Healthcare at the Center 

This year, the standoff is shaped by Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July, which guts healthcare funding. Senate Democrats want to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies and reverse $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts made by the bill. 

“Republicans skipped town because they’d rather shut the government down than protect your health care,” wrote House member Salud Carbajal in a September 30 Bluesky post. Carbajal represents California’s District 24, including Santa Barbara County. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson sent members home after the House passed two stopgap funding bills on September 19 — one Republican bill that would maintain funding as-is until November 21, and one Democrat bill that would maintain funding until October 31, permanently extend the healthcare subsidies, roll back the $1 trillion in cuts proposed to medicaid, and unfreeze funds the Trump administration has frozen for various organizations. 

Carbajal’s post is accompanied by a photo of dozens of Democrats standing around a podium that says “Save Healthcare.” 

“I’m here in Washington with my Democratic colleagues, ready and willing to keep the government open so long as Americans’ healthcare is protected,” Carbajal told the Independent. 

In California’s District 24, approximately 10,000 people will lose health coverage if Congress does not extend Affordable Care Act Subsidies. About 35,000 will see their healthcare costs rise — and, in some cases, rise sharply. According to Carbajal’s office, annual premiums for a 60-year-old couple earning $82,800 will go up by 325 percent. 

Republican party leaders are firmly against the extension. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, from South Dakota, called it a “hostage taking” exercise by the Democrats, saying the Republican stopgap bill is a “clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution.”  

The White House Threatens Permanent Layoffs 

On September 24, the Office of Management and Budget, which reports to President Trump, issued a memo that called the Democrats’ demands “insane” and gave agencies permission to make the temporary layoffs that come with a shutdown permanent. This move would push massive cuts to the federal workforce. In 2019, approximately 340,000 employees were furloughed. 

For his part, Trump has canceled talks with Democratic leaders while mocking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in an AI deepfake video posted on his social media site, Truth Social.

Now, Senate Democrats face both political pressure to hold the line against Republicans and the risk of a shutdown, with the potential to permanently reshape the federal government. 

Representative Carbajal said Republicans will bear the responsibility of the shutdown. “By refusing to engage in good-faith negotiations with Democrats and making wild threats to fire civil servants, President Trump and Republicans are failing to govern and pushing the country toward a painful shutdown for which they alone will bear responsibility,” he said in a statement to the Independent. 

The Fallout 

Government shutdowns disrupt life for everyday people. Agencies will furlough employees that they deem non-essential, and other federal workers — from TSA agents to congressional support staff — will work without pay. 

Some programs — such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and K-12 funding — will continue while other programs will risk seeing a funding loss, like the federal program WIC, which aids parents in caring for their children, and some Head Start funding. National Parks and Forest rangers will be sent home, leaving federal lands unstewarded by federal workers. 

The president, members of Congress, and Supreme Court justices will continue to get a paycheck.