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Opinion: Let the government shut down

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walks outside the chamber as Congress works on a government funding solution, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walks outside the chamber as Congress works on a government funding solution, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., walks outside the chamber as Congress works on a government funding solution, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By Ben Sessoms 5 min read

In a Congress as dysfunctional as ours, you could point to many ineffectual relics that keep the system in perpetual gridlock. One such legislative hurdle, if the competing political parties cannot agree on budgetary funding, is the threat of a government shutdown.

With the deadline looming, Congress must agree on a budget or else the government will shut down on Tuesday at midnight, and federal services, aside from essential operations, will indefinitely pause.

Despite Republican control of both chambers of Congress, there’s another relic Democrats could and should use as a bargaining chip to rein in this lawless administration headed by President Donald Trump: the filibuster.

Without 60 votes in the Senate — where Republicans hold a slim 53-47 majority — a budget resolution will not pass. Therefore, the GOP, if it wishes to keep the government running, needs the party to vote in lockstep along with seven Democrats in support.

As past Republican congressional minorities have done, Democrats should demand concessions in exchange for their votes. Thankfully, this is exactly what the party has done.