By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
As the federal government shutdown enters its thirty-sixth day, a record is broken.
The shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. The previous record of 35 days occurred in late 2018 and early 2019 over disagreements over then-first-term President Donald Trump’s border wall.
The current shutdown revolves around partisan disputes regarding the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025 and potentially leaving a large portion of Americans without health insurance, NPR reports. In October, Governor Andy Beshear warned Kentuckians could face increased health care costs “due to Congress’s lack of action to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits,” a governor’s office press release states.
CBS stated some Republicans expect the Democrats to be more willing to end the shutdown after Tuesday’s elections.
The government shutdown began on Oct. 1 due to a failure to pass a funding bill. Since the shutdown began, the U.S. Senate has held 14 votes in an attempt to pass the U.S. House of Representatives’ stopgap measure to fund the government through Nov. 21. The U.S. House has been in recess since the shutdown.
Due to the shutdown, nearly all federal departments have stopped or reduced their services. The U.S. Department of Education, for example, has laid off over 400 employees, ceased “grantmaking activities” and has paused investigations into civil rights complaints. Mammoth Cave National Park has also stopped cave tours during the shutdown, though some locals are taking matters into their own hands.
Perhaps the most noticeable impact of the federal shutdown is its effect on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP — which provides families assistance in purchasing certain food items. In 2024, Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which administers SNAP benefits, estimated that 6,145 people a month in Barren County used SNAP benefits. Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would use its contingency fund to partially pay November SNAP benefits.
The Senate is not scheduled to vote on the House-passed measure to reopen the government on Nov. 5, according to Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office. Republicans have the majority in both houses of Congress — in the Senate they have 53 seats, however 60 votes is required to move the measure forward.
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