Beyond the Dome: Government Shutdown

By Katie Dusza, Assistant News Editor 

On the evening of Nov. 12, 2025, the House voted 222–209 to approve legislation to fund the government through the end of January was signed into law by President Donald Trump. This marked the ending of the longest government shutdown in US history. 

This shutdown has been a whirlwind of controversy and finger-pointing. The White House has made a point to blame Democrats for the shutdown. Before the shutdown had officially ended, the official White House website featured a clock that showed how long the shutdown lasted. Below the clock, there was a line of text reading, “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government,” a very pointed and biased statement. During the signing of the bill to reopen the government Trump launched into a partisan attack on Democrats, making false claims that Democrats want to give money to undocumented immigrants. Trump called on the public to punish Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections. 

Trump also blamed former Democrat President Joe Biden for higher Thanksgiving prices in his term than during Trump’s, stating “Also I want to thank Walmart, because they came up with a fantastic study. It was the cost of Thanksgiving, coming up, and the cost of Thanksgiving from a year ago, under sleepy Joe Biden, and we’re 25% lower.” This incorrect statement references the cost of a Walmart Thanksgiving basket which is less expensive but simultaneously noticeably smaller than the 2024 basket. To critics, this highlights the unproductiveness of partisan finger-pointing for the sake of political gain rather than focusing on fixing problems for Americans. 

Another point of controversy coinciding with the government shutdown has been pressure on releasing documents regarding disgraced sex offender Jeffery Epstein and his friendship with Trump. Next week, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson plans to put a bill on the House floor to release said files. Johnson, as well as Trump, opposed the bill; however, the discharge petition that requires the bill be brought up for a House of Representatives bill received the required 218 signatures from all Democrats, as well as four Republicans. However, if the bill passes the House, it has to be sent through the Senate. This is not very promising because Senate leaders have not indicated support for the bill. Trump often refers to the effort to release the files as a “Democrat hoax.” Supporters of the bill note confusion as to why Trump won’t release the files and question if there is something incriminating for Trump which is the reason he is against the release of the files. 

A major challenge of the government shutdown has been its effect on air travel. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, 13,000 air traffic controllers have been working without pay for more than 50,000 daily operations across the country. One of the most difficult days for flying came the weekend of Halloween due to staffing shortages. “After 31 days without pay, air traffic controllers are under immense stress and fatigue,” the FAA commented on the state of employees. Short staffing is an issue for airlines because it threatens the safety of flyers. Canisius’ own Dr. Clark Banach was unable to fly while traveling back to Buffalo. Banach flew from the Berlin airport into Newark, N.J., and after notification of the connecting flights delay he asked the customer service representative if there was any chance he would get a flight to Buffalo. They urged him to find another way back so Banach rented a car and drove the eight hours to Canisius to make it to his Monday classes. His flight was later cancelled after multiple delays over the course of a few hours. 

After 42 days, the government officially reopened the morning of Nov. 13, but there is still a lot of work to be done.