It’s been eight days since a partial US government shutdown began on October 1, owing to a failure by Congress to agree to a new budget by the September 30 deadline.

Democrats are refusing to help to pass a budget unless health insurance subsidies are extended^[1], while Republicans and President Donald Trump want a budget passed without these subsidies. There does not appear to be any progress^[2] towards ending the shutdown.

Analyst G. Elliott Morris has reported polls^[3] that have Republicans and Trump blamed for the shutdown by six to 17 points more than Democrats. In a YouGov poll for CBS News^[4], by 40–28 respondents said the Democratic positions were not worth the shutdown, and by 45–23 they said the same of the Republican positions.

In analyst Nate Silver’s US national poll aggregate^[5], Trump has a net approval of -9.4, with 52.7% disapproving and 43.3% approving. His net approval dropped two points in late September, but the shutdown hasn’t changed it yet.

Trump’s net approval on the four issues tracked by Silver are -4.7 on immigration, -15.3 on the economy, -15.6 on trade and -27.4 on inflation. His net approval on trade and inflation has risen in the last two weeks.

In November 2026 all of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate will be up for election at midterm elections. Morris’ generic ballot average^[6] has Democrats leading Republicans by 44.9–42.1. Democrats have led narrowly since April.

In polling conducted before the shutdown started, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer averaged a net favourability^[7] of -20.5 according to Silver, making him the least popular of the six party leaders (Trump, Vice President JD Vance and the Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders).

Schumer’s poor ratings are due to weak ratings from Democratic-aligned voters. A Pew poll gave him an overall 50–21 unfavourable rating, including 39–35 unfavourable with Democrats. There’s pressure on Schumer from his own party to fight Trump harder. If Democrats are perceived to have caved to Republicans, Schumer is likely to be blamed by other Democrats.

How do shutdowns affect the US economy?

There have been 11 US government shutdowns^[8] since 1980, with seven of them lasting five days or less. The longest shutdown^[9] (35 days) occurred during Trump’s first term after Democrats gained control of the House in November 2018 elections.

Shutdowns are economically damaging, but past shutdowns haven’t lasted long enough to do great damage, and the economy rebounds once the shutdown is over.

Shutdowns result in far less government economic data. The September jobs report was to be released last Friday^[10], but this won’t happen until after the shutdown finishes^[11].

Despite the shutdown, the benchmark US S&P 500 stock index surged^[12] to a new record high in Wednesday’s session, and is up 4% in the last month. The stock market has been supporting Trump since it rebounded from April lows.

Why is there a shutdown when Republicans control both chambers?

Republicans won the House of Representatives by 220–215 over Democrats at the November 2024 elections and currently hold it^[13] by 219–213, with two special elections to occur later this year. A Democrat who won a September 23 special election has not yet been formally certified the winner.

Republicans also hold a 53–47 majority in the Senate^[14].

In the Senate, legislation usually needs to clear a 60-vote “filibuster” threshold^[15]. The filibuster allows at least 41 senators to indefinitely delay legislation they disagree with. To reach 60 votes, Republicans need at least seven Democratic senators to vote with them.

The filibuster is not part of the US Constitution, and the majority party could eliminate it. But some Republican senators are probably worried about what Democrats would do if they won the presidency and majorities in both chambers of Congress.

The filibuster cannot be applied to all legislation. Trump’s “big beautiful bill”^[16] passed the Senate using “reconciliation”^[17] by 51–50 on Vance’s tie-breaking vote. But reconciliation is a cumbersome process that isn’t appropriate for a normal budget bill.

Ipsos poll on Trump’s troop deployments

Trump has deployed national guard troops^[18] on home soil in Chicago, Illinois, and attempted to also do this in Portland, Oregon. The national guard has assisted before, during environmental disasters and protests, but Trump’s deployments are against the wishes of the affected states’ governors.

In an Ipsos US national poll^[19] for Reuters, respondents thought by 58–25 that the president should only deploy troops to areas with external threats. By 48–37, they did not think the president should be able to send troops into a state if its governor objects.

References

1. ^{^} health insurance subsidies are extended (www.cbsnews.com)
2. ^{^} appear to be any progress (www.theguardian.com)
3. ^{^} has reported polls (www.gelliottmorris.com)
4. ^{^} YouGov poll for CBS News (www.cbsnews.com)
5. ^{^} US national poll aggregate (www.natesilver.net)
6. ^{^} generic ballot average (www.gelliottmorris.com)
7. ^{^} net favourability (www.natesilver.net)
8. ^{^} 11 US government shutdowns (en.wikipedia.org)
9. ^{^} longest shutdown (en.wikipedia.org)
10. ^{^} released last Friday (www.bls.gov)
11. ^{^} after the shutdown finishes (www.bls.gov)
12. ^{^} S&P 500 stock index surged (www.google.com)
13. ^{^} currently hold it (en.wikipedia.org)
14. ^{^} in the Senate (en.wikipedia.org)
15. ^{^} “filibuster” threshold (en.wikipedia.org)
16. ^{^} “big beautiful bill” (en.wikipedia.org)
17. ^{^} “reconciliation” (en.wikipedia.org)
18. ^{^} deployed national guard troops (www.abc.net.au)
19. ^{^} Ipsos US national poll (www.reuters.com)