The Razor’s Edge: The Government Shutdown and Partisan Media

The shutdown began on Oct. 1, when Congress failed to pass a budget for fiscal year 2026. Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement regarding an extension of expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies that were set to expire in November. The legislation failed 14 times before a revised bill finally passed the Senate on November 10. The House approved the bill on Nov. 12, and President Trump signed it later that day, bringing an end to the longest shutdown in American history.

For more than six weeks, Democrats and Republicans refused to compromise, leaving millions of Americans caught in the middle. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the shutdown furloughed over 670,000 federal employees and left another 730,000 essential employees working without pay. By day 41, the cumulative missed paychecks of American citizens was projected to reach three million. The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan organization, estimated a permanent loss of  $7 billion to $14 billion, meaning the  economic effects on our country will continue to linger for some time. 

Since many federal assistance programs did not receive funding, the shutdown disproportionately hurt low-income families. As of early November over 65,000 children across the country risked losing Head Start, a government funded program that provides early education opportunities for low-income families with preschoolers. Lack of funding forced programs across 40 states to shorten hours, cut transportation, or close their doors indefinitely, leaving families without access to child care, early education, or nutrition support. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding also faced cuts. While some states, like Connecticut, agreed to fully fund SNAP throughout the shutdown, the Trump administration ordered states to recall any previously issued assistance above a 65% threshold. By prioritizing their desired budget over citizen well-being, policymakers left vulnerable families to pay the price.

The shutdown also revealed how deeply partisan messaging dominates our media landscape. A government shutdown clock on the official White House website stated, “Democrats have shut down the Government.” This statement placed full blame on the Democratic minority of Congress for refusing to pass the Republican budget, rather than recognizing that both sides failed to reach a compromise. By allowing partisan bias to infiltrate official government websites, the Trump administration exacerbated the partisan divide through the media.

Following the example set by the White House, Media Research Center (MRC), a conservative media watchdog, released a study critiquing ABC, CBS, and NBC for “heavily favoring” Democrats over Republicans in their coverage of the shutdown. The report claimed that out of 95 statements from 67 reports, 83 favored Democrats and only 12 favored Republicans. Yet the MRC report failed to acknowledge the imbalance on the White House website itself, where the Trump administration made zero comments favoring Democrats. Just as MRC noted selective imbalance in coverage by liberal media, it ironically excluded conservative bias from its own evaluation.

The rise of partisan media has also intensified political polarization through the creation of echo chambers; people often consume only media that agrees with their political view, closing them off from the other party’s opinions. Facebook’s algorithm favors showing content with which a user’s like-minded friends have interacted. Furthermore, many social media algorithms reward polarized content as it gains more engagement, boosting their app’s ratings. These systems amplify sensational claims, allowing Trump to call California's recent election on proposition 50 a “GIANT SCAM” on X despite there being no evidence of foul play. The Trump Administration uses the polarization of media, whether through Truth Social or the White House website, to spread narratives that appeal to their voting bloc rather than supporting the good of the nation.

Even after bipartisan support finally emerged to reopen the government, a toxic political environment lingered. Even the agreement that ended the government postponed the debate over ASA subsidies into December, all but ensuring the conflict will resurface. As politicians appeal to their polarized voting block rather than acting in the best interest of the country, the result is a divided nation. Moreover, by allowing biased reporting and preventing users from seeing diverse opinions, partisan media only makes the problem worse, reducing people’s ability to understand others’ opinions and learn to compromise. 

As American citizens, we must learn to question the sources of our information. This takes work, but by choosing to expose ourselves to diverse thoughts and forming our own opinions, we can not only begin to heal, collectively, from the trauma of an idled government, but prevent a similar calamity in the future.