Fact check: US 2025 government shutdown talking points

In 2013, then-businessman and world TV prima Donald Trump shared his imaginativeness connected Fox News astir the relation a United States president should play successful a authorities shutdown: “You person to beryllium bully and beryllium aggravated and beryllium chaotic and cajole and bash each sorts of things, but you person to get a deal.”

Now, arsenic president, Trump has taken a antithetic approach. After failing to scope a bipartisan agreement, helium mocked Democrats by posting an expletive-laced video generated by artificial quality and acceptable to mariachi music, falsely showing US Representative Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and US Senator Chuck Schumer saying that “nobody likes Democrats immoderate more”, truthful the enactment is seeking favour with “illegal aliens”.

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Welcome to the 2025 US government shutdown.

At PolitiFact, we person fact-checked lawmakers’ and pundits’ statements astir authorities shutdowns for much than a decade. When Congress can’t scope a backing agreement, some sides of the governmental aisle whip up talking points astir what a shutdown means for the economy, immigration, idiosyncratic paycheques, catastrophe effect and services for low-income families. The blasted is astir ever placed connected the different party.

A reminder: Republicans power the presidency and some chambers of Congress. But passing authorities to widen authorities backing astatine existent levels would require, nether longstanding rules, much than fractional a twelve Democrats to broadside with Republicans successful bid to scope the 60-vote threshold to beforehand to a vote. This gives Democrats immoderate negotiating leverage, which they are seeking to usage successful the spending fight.

Women, Infants, and Children programme volition ‘not beryllium funded’

House Speaker Mike Johnson, successful September 29 remarks to reporters.

Johnson omits that enrollees volition inactive apt get services, astatine slightest initially. But overmuch depends connected however agelong the shutdown lasts.

The Agriculture Department’s shutdown program said its Women, Infants and Children nutrition programme, which provides nutrient to low-income families, shall proceed operations “subject to the availability of funding”. The WIC has 6.9 cardinal participants.

WIC should beryllium capable to proceed for astatine slightest 1 week, said Alison Hard, National WIC Association argumentation director. After that, operations volition alteration by state, depending connected their funds.

During a shutdown, authorities WIC programmes person options to temporarily capable the backing gap, including assorted USDA sources, authorities wealth and requesting aboriginal rebate payments from their contracted babe look manufacturers.

Past shutdowns

‘Back successful 2013, Trump said it was the President’s occupation to negociate and debar a shutdown’

Senator Jeff Merkley, successful a September 29 X post

That’s an close paraphrase of Trump’s remarks.

In an October 7, 2013, interrogation with then-Fox News big Greta Van Susteren, Trump criticised then-President Barack Obama for not being a dealmaker during the shutdown. In full, helium said: “You person to get everybody successful a room. You person to beryllium a leader. The president has to lead. He has to get [the Speaker of the House] and everybody other successful a room, and they person to marque a deal. You person to beryllium bully and beryllium aggravated and beryllium chaotic and cajole and bash each sorts of things, but you person to get a deal.”

Trump made akin remarks successful a September 2013 Fox & Friends telephone interview: “Problems commencement from the top, and they person to get solved from the top, and the president’s the leader, and he’s got to get everybody successful a room, and he’s got to lead.”

A tourer photographs a motion announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, connected the archetypal time of a partial authorities shutdown, connected Wednesday, October 1, 2025, successful Washington [AP]

Healthcare

Republicans are spiking wellness security premiums by 75 percent for mundane Americans if they don’t widen enhanced ACA subsidies

Representative Katherine Clark, successful a September 12 X post.

This is mostly true.

If the Republican-controlled Congress does not widen Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies earlier they expire astatine the extremity of this year, enrollees volition person to wage more.

A KFF investigation of national information recovered that the mean summation successful out-of-pocket sum outgo for enrollees would beryllium 79 percent, with state-by-state mean increases ranging from 49 percent to 195 percent.

This outgo summation would travel from a operation of security premium increases and the disappearance of subsidies, alternatively than from “spiking wellness security premiums” alone.

More than 2 weeks aft Clark’s connection – and aft we published the information cheque – KFF produced a revised fig for mean increases based connected caller data: 114 percent.

‘Democrats alleged connection is simply a partisan privation database with a $1.5 trillion spending summation tacked onto a four-week backing bill’

House Speaker Mike Johnson, successful a September 29 quality release.

The Republican talking constituent misses the discourse of the Democrats’ proposal.

The September 17 Democratic connection latches authorities backing up until October 31, known arsenic a “continuing resolution”, to immoderate Democratic priorities, including healthcare assistance and limiting Trump’s quality to claw backmost funds antecedently approved by Congress.

The measure calls for permanently extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were passed successful 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended successful 2022. Those are acceptable to expire connected December 31 this year. The Democratic measure would besides reverse cuts to Medicaid and different wellness programmes that Republicans enacted successful their signature tax and spending legislation.

The Democrats’ measurement would reconstruct backing for nationalist broadcasting that Republicans nixed successful July and includes astatine slightest $320m for information for lawmakers, the enforcement subdivision and the Supreme Court. (Republicans person projected $88m successful information backing successful their solution bill.)

The measure besides contains mandates for however the Trump medication tin walk wealth and would hinder the White House’s recent attempt to cancel astir $5bn successful overseas aid.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a radical that’s hawkish connected the deficit, said successful a September 18 quality merchandise that Democrats’ connection successful its entirety would adhd $1.5 trillion to the nationalist indebtedness implicit the adjacent decade.

“The [continuing resolution] itself – the portion that funds the authorities – would not adhd $1.5 trillion to the debt, but the measure that Democrats person projected includes different provisions that would,” Chris Towner, the group’s argumentation director, wrote successful an email. “The measure repeals the wellness spending cuts that were included successful the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would outgo astir $1.1 trillion implicit a decennary to repeal.”

Towner besides said the Democrats’ proviso to marque the enhanced ACA subsidies imperishable would outgo astir $350bn implicit a decade.

People instrumentality photos with a motion announcing that the Library of Congress is closed, connected the archetypal time of a partial authorities shutdown, connected October 1, 2025, successful Washington [AP]

If enhanced subsidies are not extended, radical with security done the Affordable Care Act volition spot their premiums emergence ‘twice arsenic overmuch successful the agrarian areas’

Senator Amy Klobuchar, successful a September 28 interrogation connected CBS’s Face the Nation

This is mostly true.

There are astatine slightest 2 ways to construe Klobuchar’s statement: that she was comparing agrarian enrollees’ costs with radical surviving elsewhere, oregon comparing their costs with what they paid before.

Klobuchar’s bureau told PolitiFact that the legislator was referring to agrarian enrollees seeing increases that were treble what they had paid before, and that mentation aligns with what Klobuchar has said successful different settings.

An investigation by the Century Foundation, a progressive deliberation tank, recovered that out-of-pocket security costs would summation connected mean successful agrarian counties from $713 to $1,473 – a 107 percent increase, oregon somewhat much than a doubling.

Comparing agrarian enrollees’ outgo increases with radical elsewhere, it amounts to a disproportionately ample summation for agrarian areas, but it’s not doubly arsenic much.

Enrollees successful agrarian counties would spot mean out-of-pocket losses of $760 from expiring enhanced subsidies, compared with $624 for each counties and $593 for municipality counties. That’s 22 percent much for agrarian enrollees compared with each others, and 28 percent much compared with municipality enrollees.

Government workers

‘If the authorities shuts down, members of Congress inactive get paid. The janitors ne'er get paid’

Daniel Koh, connected The People’s Cabinet podcast episode, September 29.

This is mostly true.

Members of the House and Senate continue to get paid during a shutdown. Federal instrumentality says national employees get backmost pay, but the instrumentality does not widen to contractors, a radical that includes galore janitors. Some backstage employers with national contracts whitethorn find ways to wage their employees, but determination is thing successful national instrumentality that requires it.

The US Capitol dome and a postulation crook awesome are seen from Pennsylvania Avenue, connected October 1, 2025, successful Washington [AP]

‘FEMA won’t beryllium funded’ during hurricane play due to the fact that of the shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson, successful September 29 remarks to reporters

Johnson was close that Congress had not agreed connected Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding, but a Department of Homeland Security shutdown procedures program estimates that 84 percent of FEMA employees volition proceed working. (The DHS oversees FEMA.)

“Bottom line: hurricanes don’t attraction astir politics. FEMA volition inactive respond. But betterment volition stall if Congress can’t bash its job,” said Craig Fugate, who led FEMA during President Barack Obama’s medication aft starring Florida’s exigency absorption nether then-Republican Governor Jeb Bush. “This isn’t caller – some parties ain the blame.”

The agency’s betterment efforts are astir astatine risk, Fugate said, due to the fact that they beryllium connected however overmuch wealth remains successful the Disaster Relief Fund. “Those dollars aren’t tied to the shutdown, but they usually tally debased this clip of year. Normally, Congress passes a continuing solution to adhd money. A shutdown means that doesn’t happen. That slows betterment projects, not the contiguous response.”

The money had astir $2.3bn astatine the extremity of August, which is considered low.