People Over Parties: When the Government Shutdown Becomes a Political Show Where Working Americans Lose

Each party claims moral high ground, but neither has learned how to stop turning compassion into currency.

I remember hearing about government shutdowns for the first time when I was in college, back in 1995–96. The headlines were everywhere. Congress was gridlocked, federal workers were furloughed, and both sides blamed the other for “holding the line.” It was the first time many Americans realized the government could close its doors over political disagreement.

But that moment wasn’t a one-time crisis. It was the start of a pattern.

Before the 1980s, when Congress failed to pass a budget on time, agencies often kept operating. Funding “gaps” were inconvenient, but not catastrophic. That changed in 1980 and 1981, when Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued a legal opinion enforcing the Antideficiency Act. From that point forward, if appropriations weren’t passed, agencies had to shut down operations entirely.

In other words, a legal technicality became a political tool.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, those funding gaps grew more common as partisanship deepened. Then, the Clinton-era shutdowns of 1995–96 made the tactic famous…and effective.

Leaders discovered that forcing a shutdown could pressure the opposing party to bend on spending, welfare reform, or taxes. Since then, both sides have learned how to use the threat of a shutdown to score political points, framing it as moral conviction while ordinary Americans pay the price.

What began as a procedural delay has become a recurring hostage situation and the hostages are always the people.

Today, government shutdowns aren’t accidents of bureaucracy; they’re weapons of leverage in a divided system. The tragedy is that each time this happens, public trust erodes a little more, and the people these systems were built to serve are left waiting, worrying, and wondering if anyone in power still remembers them.

Here’s how I see it: what we’re witnessing right now is not simply a budgeting impasse, but a full-blown structural failure of governance!

Both political parties are willing to use the levers of public service as strategic weapons, while millions of everyday Americans carry the cost.

My fellow Americans, every party shares blame — Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Socialist, and beyond.

Our elected officials are to blame. Period. And you, if you’re like me, an average middle-class, law-abiding citizen…are being left out to dry.

On October 1, 2025 the federal government entered a shutdown because Congress failed to pass the appropriations to fund many agencies. Around 900,000 federal employees were furloughed or working without pay, and millions more contractors, state partners, service recipients) face trickle-down consequences.

When you zoom out, you see that the impasse is deeply partisan: spending bills and resolutions are failing along party lines, debates are framed in “us vs. them” rather than “how do we serve people” terms.

What works should be obvious: health care subsidies, food and nutrition programs (like WIC), childcare supports, veterans services. These aren’t fringe issues.  Each of these matter in the daily lives of working folks. Because they matter, they also become bargaining chips.

For example: during this shutdown WIC, nutrition assistance for women, infants and children, is flagged as being at risk because its funding comes via appropriations subject to the shut-down. When such essential services are threatened, what you’re watching is political leverage in motion.

Likewise, federal agencies have reportedly used official communications to blame the opposing party for the shutdown.

The Working Class Pays the Price

Let’s put names on it: the person working in a federal regulatory agency; the contract worker in a health ins­­urance enrollment office; the state employee processing WIC or SNAP benefits; the couple on Medicare/Medicaid; the single mother relying on nutritional support for her child.

When the government shuts down or goes into limbo, those people lose paychecks, face delayed services, get caught in bureaucratic limbo. Meanwhile, the rhetoric is all about “deficit hawks” or “social spending extremists” or “administrative overreach” (depending on which side you ask).

During a government shutdown, the pay gap between elected officials and those who serve under them becomes painfully clear. Members of Congress continue to earn their $174,000 annual salary, funded through a permanent appropriation protected by the Constitution, while hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors go without pay. Those most affected—military personnel, air traffic controllers, and contract employees—often still report to duty because their work is deemed essential, yet their paychecks are delayed until the shutdown ends.

Many contract workers, particularly in maintenance, food service, and support roles, may never recover lost income at all. It’s a striking contrast: those responsible for the political stalemate remain financially secure, while those who keep the country safe, fed, and functioning are left in limbo. This disparity underscores the moral fracture at the heart of modern governance—a system where power remains protected even as service is penalized.

We need a shift in elected philosophy: “People over Parties.” It should not matter which political party is in charge: the yardstick must be: Are we serving the people or are we playing games with them?

Are we benefiting our citizens or are we bringing more harm? Simple question. Complex issue. Convoluted anwers.

Bipartisan Manipulation – Yes, Both Sides Are Doing It

I know it’s tempting to blame “the other party” and move on. But a clear-eyed look shows both sides have incentives to engage in shutdown brinkmanship.

• The party in power may escalate to show toughness and win future elections.

• The minority party may block or threaten shutdowns as leverage for policy demands.

• Both sides may rely on public fear of service disruption to push unrelated agendas.

For instance, one party may insist on deep cuts to domestic spending, including food support and healthcare, to secure a “win” on spending restraint.

Another may push for expanded programs and protections, using the shutdown as moral leverage.

In both cases, the struggle is not about compassion; it’s about control. The battle lines are drawn not around what helps people, but around who gets credit for helping them.

Control demands victory; concern seeks resolution.

Control feeds ego; concern feeds community. Yet, over time, this obsession with control has numbed leaders, and citizens alike, to the human cost. Every furloughed worker, every delayed paycheck, every parent wondering how to buy groceries becomes a casualty of pride.

The tragedy is that genuine concern, shared compassion across political lines, has been replaced by posturing for cameras and polls.

Until we reclaim concern as the heart of public service, control will continue to masquerade as leadership, and the people will continue to pay the price.

Stop Playing Games

Each party claims moral high ground, but neither has learned how to stop turning compassion into currency. Healthcare, food assistance, and even disaster relief become bargaining chips in a partisan chess match.

The left says, “If only they’d fund essential programs, this wouldn’t happen.”

The right says, “If only they’d stop overspending, this wouldn’t happen.”

Meanwhile, the person at the grocery store watching prices rise, the single parent wondering how to stretch one more meal, and the veteran waiting for a delayed check… none of them are sitting in those marble halls. They’re sitting in our neighborhoods, in our churches, in our schools.

This is the cruel irony of the modern political machine: the people who talk most about serving “the American people” are the ones most willing to hold them hostage when their agendas don’t line up.

Shutdowns aren’t new. They’ve happened under Republican and Democratic leadership alike. But what’s changing is the level of indifference. Each cycle of brinkmanship hardens our cynicism. Each political stunt erodes trust a little more. Each social media post that blames “the other side” pulls us further apart.

The result?

A government that no longer governs, but performs.

The Spiritual Cost of Division

When Scripture says, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:25), it isn’t just talking about households; it’s describing nations, churches, and communities that forget their shared calling.

Division has a spiritual cost. It breeds fear, resentment, and pride. It creates “us versus them” mentalities where empathy used to live.  And it teaches citizens that cruelty can be justified if it’s dressed up as conviction.

The values of Christ don’t fit comfortably within political tribalism. You can’t show grace when you’re scoring points. You can’t grow while demonizing your neighbor. You can’t gather when you’re dividing.

That’s why People Over Parties is a discipleship issue.

Jesus didn’t affiliate with the Pharisees or the Sadducees or Romans or Herodians. He confronted power when it oppressed and uplifted people when they were ignored.

Jesus refused to play their games.

If Jesus were walking the streets of Washington today, He wouldn’t be attending press conferences or posting on social media about whose budget plan was better.

He’d be sitting in break rooms with unpaid workers. He’d be handing out food to mothers whose benefits stopped. He’d be listening to veterans who feel forgotten. And He’d be asking us, His people, to do the same.

The Manipulation of Compassion

There’s something deeply manipulative about how modern politics exploits compassion. Both parties appeal to moral emotion, care for the poor, respect for the taxpayer, but they rarely deliver tangible solutions.

Here’s how it works:

• If you care about people in poverty, one party claims you should support more spending.

• If you care about responsibility and fiscal stewardship, the other party claims you should support cuts.

• And somehow, we’re told we can’t care about both.

That’s a false choice.

Jesus cared about stewardship and compassion. He multiplied bread for the hungry, but He also taught accountability for what’s entrusted to us.

The political system thrives by convincing us those values are opposites when, in fact, they’re two halves of faithfulness.

When government leaders use hunger, healthcare, or security as pawns, they aren’t protecting their constituents; they’re manipulating their conscience.

And we, as citizens, must stop taking the bait.

A Call to Remember What Government Is For

Romans 13 reminds us that government exists to serve and protect the people: to reward good and restrain evil. But when government itself becomes the source of harm, we must call it to account.

Government is not God. Parties are not saviors. Budgets are not moral compasses.

They’re tools. And tools, when misused, wound instead of build.

The Church’s job isn’t to take over government, but to remind government  of its purpose. A government that shuts down at the expense of its citizens has lost sight of its calling.

One of the most dangerous narratives fueling shutdown culture is the myth of scarcity.We’re told there’s never enough: money, time, compassion, bipartisanship. But the Kingdom of God runs on abundance.

When Jesus fed the 5,000, He didn’t start with cynicism. He started with faith and five loaves. The disciples saw scarcity; Jesus saw sufficiency.

Our nation’s leaders could learn something from that. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in history, yet we argue endlessly over whether we can afford to feed children or pay workers on time.

The problem isn’t the lack of resources—it’s the lack of righteousness.

The Hope Beyond Politics

There’s a line from the Prophet Micah that rings especially true right now:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;and what does the LORD require of youbut to do justice, to love mercy,and to walk humbly with your God?”

Micah 6:8

Justice, mercy, humility…these are not partisan ideologies. They describe what it means to truly be human. And when our government forgets them, the people must remember. And if the people don’t know this, the Church must model it!

We serve a King whose Kingdom doesn’t shut down, whose compassion doesn’t furlough,and whose grace doesn’t need a continuing resolution.

In the end, governments rise and fall. Elected officials can come and go. But the people of God must remain serving, loving, standing in the gap.

So while Congress argues about dollars and deadlines, be the ones who live out People Over Parties.

Choose presence over power, compassion over convenience, and community over chaos. When the system is broken, people who love well can still hold the world together! The current shutdown is more than political theatre. This is symptomatic of institutional dysfunction that uses human need as leverage. Both parties lose.

The people they were elected to serve lose.

“People over parties” isn’t a nice slogan…it’s the minimum standard of public service!