Shutdown in the US: who should back down?
Many government services in the US remain closed until further notice because Congress has been unable to agree on a budget for the 2026 fiscal year which began on 1 October. Proposals put forward by both the Republicans and the Democrats failed to achieve the required three-fifths majority in the Senate on Wednesday. The main bone of contention is the reversal of recent cuts to healthcare for low-income earners.
Democrats have the upper hand here
Handelsblatt believes the Republicans and Trump will emerge weakened from the shutdown:
“Polls show that Americans tend to see the blame on the Republican side this time. And Americans are already dissatisfied with Trump's administration. But above all, the changes to the budget demanded by the Democrats are very popular – namely subsidies for health insurance, which are crucial for millions of Americans. This means that Trump had better reach out to the Democrats today rather than tomorrow. ... And the more dissatisfied voters there are, the tougher the Democrats can be in negotiations. ... The ball is in Trump's court. The Democrats basically just have to wait and see.”
A foolish and dangerous form of opposition
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung criticises the Democrats' obstructionist policy:
“Generally speaking, a government shutdown is a foolish, destructive and primitive means of opposition. Foolish because it undermines the credibility of Congress in the long run. For citizens, a shutdown symbolises the fact that that their representative democracy has become dysfunctional: Congress is incapable of allocating the money for government business that it itself has decided on. This failure on the part of the state reinforces the authoritarian tendencies that are already virulent in the US. And that is very dangerous indeed.”
Constellation reversed
Kommersant compares the current shutdown with previous ones:
“The 21st shutdown in US history differs from previous ones mainly in terms of its political background. Until now, when such a scenario arose, presidents would hope that government services would quickly resume, also for the sake of their own popularity ratings. President Donald Trump, by contrast, has repeatedly stated that he intends to use the pause in the work of government agencies to make massive cuts and roll back programmes that are unpopular with the Republicans.”