adminThe federal government has been in an avoidable shutdown since October 1, 2025, after House Republicans approved a clean continuing resolution that Senate Democrats refused to support, leaving vital services and hardworking Americans in limbo. This is Washington at its worst — partisan theater while the country pays the price.
The human cost is already clear: hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or forced to work without pay, and critical infrastructure like air traffic control is strained as controllers work under growing financial pressure and stress. This isn’t abstract budget drama — it’s families skipping bills and our national transportation network under unnecessary strain because career politicians can’t do their job.
President Trump moved to protect our troops by directing the Pentagon to use available funds to ensure service members receive paychecks despite the lapse, a pragmatic move that puts our military ahead of partisan point-scoring. It’s exactly the kind of leadership Americans expect when the political class plays games; while I applaud protecting our troops, this patchwork fix highlights how broken the system is when Washington can’t keep the lights on.
Congressman Ralph Norman deserves credit for calling out this hypocrisy and demanding real consequences — he’s publicly urged that lawmakers shouldn’t get paid while the government is shut and Americans suffer. That kind of accountability is long overdue in a town where the insiders protect themselves while ordinary people go without.
Others in the House have followed suit with symbolic but principled actions; Rep. Gus Bilirakis even asked the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer to withhold his salary during the shutdown to stand with furloughed federal workers. If members of Congress won’t legislate responsibly, then at least let them feel the same pain they foist on others — voluntary or forced, it sends a message.
Conservatives should press for real reforms: require immediate withholding of congressional pay during funding lapses, pass automatic continuing resolutions to prevent political brinkmanship, and restore power to the people with rules that force votes and real negotiation instead of hostage-taking. Washington’s game of chicken with working families must end; accountability, automatic continuity, and tougher rules will protect Americans from future shutdowns and punish the performative posturing that causes them.
Hardworking Americans are tired of being collateral damage for political theater, and they should be angrier still that Democrats would prefer shutdown leverage over governing. Stand with policymakers like Norman who push for consequences, call out the double standard, and demand that every member of Congress be held to the same standards as the rest of us — because patriotism means putting the country before party, and that’s exactly what the American people deserve.
