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Sen. Joni Ernst told hardworking Americans on Wake Up America that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats are standing in the way of reopening the government, and she made no apology for calling it out. Conservatives aren’t whispering about this any longer — we’re watching leadership on the other side prioritize politics over people while federal workers and essential services suffer.
The federal shutdown began when funding expired at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2025, after partisan gridlock over spending levels and expiring health insurance subsidies left Congress deadlocked. Republicans point to a clean continuing resolution they passed in the House to keep agencies operating while negotiations continue, but Senate Democrats have refused to cooperate, insisting on conditions that keep the government shuttered.
Ernst warned of the real-world cost of this political theater: roughly three-quarters of a million federal employees were off the job, yet taxpayers still face staggering bills — she cited estimates that the shutdown is costing about $400 million a day and has already translated into over $1 billion in lost work. These are not abstract numbers; they are paychecks delayed, airports understaffed, and veterans and families left waiting because Washington prefers leverage to governance.
Republicans have repeatedly offered stopgap funding to prevent precisely this damage, while Democrats have tied reopening to a last-minute demand to extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. That bargaining tactic reads like hostage-taking to millions of Americans who just want the basic functions of their government to work, and it’s rank hypocrisy from a party that claims to defend the middle class.
The fallout goes beyond paychecks: vital public-health programs, permitting, and other day-to-day federal operations have been disrupted, and the longer this drags on the worse the harm to ordinary citizens and small businesses. This shutdown has stretched far longer than it should have, and every extra day proves the point that political grandstanding comes with a price tag paid by regular Americans, not career politicians.
Patriotic conservatives should be loud and clear: reopen the government now, restore services, and then settle disputes through the normal legislative process. Leadership means putting the American people first — not protecting party members from hard votes or appeasing the far left — and if Chuck Schumer won’t govern, he should stop blocking those who will.
