Wendell Primus and Molly E. Reynolds
September 18, 2025
A government shutdown on Sept. 30 resulting from a fight over health care is a real possibility.
Democrats—who control neither the House, the Senate, nor the White House—find themselves with increasing pressure from some of their key constituencies to be seen as fighting more aggressively against President Trump and his administration’s aggressive use of executive power.
Recent history suggests that, from a concrete policy perspective, shutdowns are often futile—but political dynamics can still cause them to happen.
