DAY 23: “I am reliving the nightmare”
- Agora
- Oct 23
- 3 min read
AGORA SHUTDOWN UPDATE
October 23, 2025
Senators are apparently getting stir crazy, taking up bills to end the shutdown or lessen its impacts only to see them go down in flames. The House, meanwhile, isn’t even in session, even refusing to swear in the newest member of Congress from Arizona.
But the brunt of the shutdown is falling on federal employees – some of whom have been furloughed, some deemed “essential” and work without pay, and those whose jobs hang in limbo as the courts decide whether the administration can RIF them. For workers who were laid off earlier in the year, then brought back, it feels like déjà vu all over again: “I am reliving the nightmare of the first RIF,” one such employee has said.
If the trauma being inflicted upon federal workers doesn’t move the needle, perhaps the looming health care cliff will: states are beginning to announce Obamacare premium rates for 2026 – rates that will be much higher if subsidies aren’t extended. And while Republicans are steadfast that they will not talk about the subsidies until Senate Democrats vote to re-open the government, the increasing toll might force both sides to the table . . . eventually.
CONGRESS
The shutdown is going into next week — at least. And senators are getting restless.
A Republican bill to immediately pay federal employees who are working throughout the government shutdown is heading toward a possible Senate vote — but Democrats are now working on an alternative that would include compensation for furloughed employees as well.
Senate Republicans are discussing voting on a bill that would prevent millions of low-income Americans from losing access to food aid on Nov. 1.
As the Trump administration shifts billions of dollars around to take care of its priorities during the shutdown with scant input from lawmakers, ignoring Congress’s clear constitutional supremacy over the power of the purse, Republicans in control have done nothing to push back.
WHITE HOUSE
The Trump administration has claimed the partial government shutdown also means the end of a requirement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement give congressional access to detention facilities for oversight visits.
FEDERAL AGENCIES
The Agriculture Department will reopen about 2,100 county offices all across the country Thursday despite the ongoing government shutdown to help farmers and ranchers get access to $3 billion of aid from existing programs.
Despite the Veterans Affairs Department keeping most of its employees working through the government shutdown, the agency’s leader said on Wednesday, the funding lapse is having significant impacts on key services for former military members.
FEDERAL WORKFORCE
With no deal in sight to end the second-longest government shutdown, federal employees facing layoffs and furloughs say this situation is taking an unimaginable toll. Many furloughed and excepted federal employees received a partial paycheck earlier this month and are on track to miss their first full paycheck this week.
coalition of more than 50 House Democrats on Wednesday urged utility companies not to issue late fees or terminate services to federal employees and contractors impacted by the ongoing federal government shutdown.
THE IMPACT
Idaho consumers are getting the nation’s first look at price increases hitting Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans as the federal tax credits that helped to trigger a government shutdown expire.
What does a shutdown mean for government contractors, employees, grantees and the general public? Click here for more information.
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