Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
As of October 1st, the US Government officially shut down amid heated debates about health care and immigration. The White House and Republican Lawmakers have taken to placing the blame for the shutdown on Democrats. According to CBS News, House Speaker, Mike Johnson, posted on social media stating that the “Democrats are holding the American government HOSTAGE so they can give FREE health care to ILLEGAL ALIENS.” Vice President, JD Vance, joined in on the blaming by saying that the Democrats sought to “take from the American people in order to give taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants.”
The issues started with what Republicans dubbed “The Big Beautiful Bill” which sought to make eligibility for Medicare for immigrants narrower. Democrats proposed changes that would only grant Medicare to immigrants with legal status or government protection. The Big Beautiful Bill passed the past summer and was on track to take away Medicare for an estimated 1.4 million immigrants who were granted parole to enter the US, refugees, asylees, and other previously eligible immigrants. The Trump Administration responded to that crisis by claiming that the immigrants who made it into the US legally and thus eligible for Medicare were previously let in illegally by Former President Joe Biden.
House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jefferies responded to accusations saying “Federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to provide medical coverage to undocumented individuals. And there is nothing in anything that we have proposed that is trying to change that law.” Some Republicans then argued, that if the Democrats were allowed to reinstate the cut funding, then Democrat led states could use the federal funds to extend Medicare coverage to non-citizens. Republicans also tried to punish these states in Trump’s previous bill, but that provision did not make it into the final bill.
The effects of the shutdown are devastating for many Americans. According to CNN, military members and their families have been bracing for a missed paycheck on October 15th and Speaker Johnson said that Republicans won’t support a standalone bill to get service members their pay. Democrats say that a missed paycheck won’t be enough to put an end to the shutdown. TSA members are working without pay, and Air Traffic Controllers are refusing to show up for work as well.
A video of Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has been playing at TSA checkpoints across the country blaming Democrats for the shutdown. In the video, Noem says “it is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe,” she says. “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.” She concludes, “we will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel, and our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government.”
There have been layoffs at the federal level as well since the shutdown started. According to The New York Times, the federal layoffs have targeted 4,000 employees across seven major federal departments so far, which was mentioned in a filing against the administration. This was filed with federal courts to ensure the layoffs are legal. The filing also mentioned that more layoffs may come as the shut down, and subsequent political standoff continues.
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