The last federal government shutdown, like the current one, was caused by Democrats’ support of illegal immigrants. That time, they won – until President Trump took an extraordinary measure to thwart their agenda.
On January 25, 2019 during his first term, Pres. Trump ended a record-long, 34-day federal government shutdown by signing a continuing resolution (CR) providing funding through February 15 of that year.
The shutdown was triggered because Democrats objected to funding the construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall to stem the tide of illegal immigrants flooding into the country. By filibustering the Trump Administration’s government funding plan because it included $5.7 billion for the border wall, Senate Democrats kept the government closed until Trump relented and agreed to a CR funding the government at current levels without money for the border wall.
Democrats had promised to engage in good faith negotiations regarding border security – if Trump would cave and sign the CR devoid of border wall funding. But, the continuing resolution funded the government for only an additional three weeks.
When Trump signed the CR to reopen the government on January 25, he vowed that, if Democrats didn’t keep their promise, he’d find another way to legally fund the border wall required to keep America safe:
“So let me be very clear: We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15th, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency. We will have great security.”
And, on February 15, 2019, the president was true to his word. Instead of shutting down the federal government, Pres. Trump declared a state of emergency at the U.S. southern border, through which he invoked presidential authority to divert funds that had previously been authorized by Congress, mostly for defense spending.
Democrats sued and gained an injunction against Trump’s effort to use up to $4 billion of transferred funds to construct the border wall, which the U.S. Supreme Court reversed until the matter was settled in court. Trump was then able to resume border wall construction.
But, on Day One of his presidency in 2019, Democrat President Joe Biden signed an executive order ending the emergency status and redirecting funds that had been earmarked for border wall construction. Thus, the legal issue was rendered moot, until Trump reentered the White House this year and declared a new state of emergency. In his second term, Trump is using existing funding halted by the Biden Administration and new funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill signed earlier this year.
Today’s federal government shutdown, which began on October 1, is also due to Democrats’ support of illegal immigrants. And, like the 2019 shutdown, it may well set a record for length.
This time, however, Democrats are keeping the government closed because they won’t agree to a continuing resolution that would keep funding at the same level they approved in previous CRs.
And, while Democrats shut down the government in 2019 because they didn’t want a wall to keep illegal immigrants out of the U.S., this year they’re doing it to gain health care benefits for those illegal immigrants now that they’re here.
Instead, Democrats are demanding an additional $1.5 trillion, including nearly $200 billion of funding to provide health care benefits to illegal aliens. To obtain that funding, Democrats seek to reverse healthcare system reforms instituted by the One Big Beautiful Bill (Working Families Tax Cut Act), a White House memo explains:
“Democrats’ funding proposal would put American Patients Last by undoing critical WFTCA reforms, thereby spending nearly $200 billion in taxpayer money on healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens.”
In particular, Democrats are demanding an end to eligibility requirements and reinstatement of loopholes through which states obtain federal funds they repurpose to spend on health care for illegal immigrants.
Democrats are also refusing to reopen the government until Republicans agree to restore a special Obamacare subsidy for non-citizens that was repealed by the One Big Beautiful Bill, the memo explains:
“The WFTCA repeals this ‘special rule’ for immigrants, once again ensuring non-citizens are not afforded a federal benefit not available to American citizens. Overturning this provision would result in $27.3 billion in federal premium subsidies for non-citizens over the next decade.”
