GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BEGINS AS NATION FACES NEW PERIOD OF UNCERTAINTY
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.
Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.
“We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.
But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.
This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarizing divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hardline positions rather than more traditional compromises.
Plenty of blame being thrown around
The Democrats picked this fight, which was unusual for the party that prefers to keep government running, but their voters are eager to challenge the president’s second-term agenda. Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that are expiring for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act, spiking the costs of insurance premiums nationwide.
Republicans have refused to negotiate for now and have encouraged Trump to steer clear of any talks. After the White House meeting, the president posted a cartoonish fake video mocking the Democratic leadership that was widely viewed as unserious and racist.
What neither side has devised is an easy offramp to prevent what could become a protracted closure. The ramifications are certain to spread beyond the political arena, upending the lives of Americans who rely on the government for benefit payments, work contracts and the various services being thrown into turmoil.
“What the government spends money on is a demonstration of our country’s priorities,” said Rachel Snyderman, a former White House budget official who is the managing director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington.
Shutdowns, she said, “only inflict economic cost, fear and confusion across the country.”
Economic fallout expected to ripple nationwide
An economic jolt could be felt in a matter of days. The government is expected Friday to produce its monthly jobs report, which may or may not be delivered.
While the financial markets have generally “shrugged” during past shutdowns, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis, this one could be different partly because there are no signs of broader negotiations.
“There are also few good analogies to this week’s potential shutdown,” the analysis said.
Across the government, preparations have been underway. Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russ Vought, directed agencies to execute plans for not just furloughs, as are typical during a federal funding lapse, but mass firings of federal workers. It’s part of the Trump administration’s mission, including its Department of Government Efficiency, to shrink the federal government.
What’s staying open and shutting down
The Medicare and Medicaid health care programs are expected to continue, though staffing shortages could mean delays for some services. The Pentagon would still function. And most employees will stay on the job at the Department of Homeland Security.
But Trump has warned that the administration could focus on programs that are important to Democrats, “cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”
As agencies sort out which workers are essential, or not, Smithsonian museums are expected to stay open at least until Monday. A group of former national park superintendents urged the Trump administration to close the parks to visitors, arguing that poorly staffed parks in a shutdown are a danger to the public and put park resources at risk.
No easy exit as health care costs soar
Ahead of Wednesday’s start of the fiscal year, House Republicans had approved a temporary funding bill, over opposition from Democrats, to keep government running into mid-November while broader negotiations continue.
But that bill has failed repeatedly in the Senate, including late Tuesday. It takes a 60-vote threshold for approval, which requires cooperation between the two parties. A Democratic bill also failed. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Democrats are leveraging their votes to demand negotiation.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said Republicans are happy to discuss the health care issue with Democrats — but not as part of talks to keep the government open. More votes are expected Wednesday.
The standoff is a political test for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has drawn scorn from a restive base of left-flank voters pushing the party to hold firm in its demands for health care funding.
“Americans are hurting with higher costs,” Schumer said after the failed vote Tuesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home nearly two weeks ago after having passed the GOP bill, blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
“They want to fight Trump,” Johnson said Tuesday on CNBC. “A lot of good people are going to be hurt because of this.”
Trump, during his meeting with the congressional leaders, expressed surprise at the scope of the rising costs of health care, but Democrats left with no path toward talks.
During Trump’s first term, the nation endured its longest-ever shutdown, 35 days, over his demands for funds Congress refused to provide to build his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.
In 2013, the government shut down for 16 days during the Obama presidency over GOP demands to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Other closures date back decades.
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS URGE LAWMAKERS TO TREAD CAREFULLY WITH PROPERTY TAX REFORM
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Makenzie Huber / South Dakota Searchlight) – Lawmakers should be careful in their approach to property tax reform and education funding, superintendents from two of South Dakota’s largest school districts said after a panel discussion Monday.
Jamie Nold is superintendent of the Sioux Falls School District, which has the state’s highest enrollment with more than 24,000 students. Jennifer Lowery is the superintendent at Harrisburg School District, the third largest in the state with 6,000 students, and the fastest growing.
“Property taxes are complex, and you can’t have simple solutions without unintended consequences to a complex mechanism,” Lowery said.
The two shared their perspectives with the Downtown Sioux Falls Rotary Club, reacting to ideas generated by lawmakers on the Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force this summer.
The task force is aiming to reduce property taxes for South Dakota homeowners. It’s heard ideas including state government funding cuts that could be redirected toward property tax relief and new sales taxes to replace property taxes.
One focus of the task force is to analyze education funding’s connection to property taxes. Task force member and House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, said at the last task force meeting that school funding is the number one cost driver of high property taxes because schools are “incentivized” to spend and collect more property taxes. Some task force members, including Odenbach, have expressed interest in simplifying the process by rewriting or adjusting the school funding formula.
During Monday’s panel and in media interviews afterward, Lowery worried that shifting toward sales taxes and eliminating property taxes for schools would disconnect taxpayers from their communities and shift the onus of investing in school infrastructure onto the state rather than local taxpayers.
Lawmakers should continue to study the issue to identify the property tax “breaking point” for different communities, Lowery said, and seek out a more tailored approach to expand property tax relief programs for some South Dakotans, such as elderly and disabled residents.
“How much tax is too much,” Lowery said, “and how much is an investment in your community and school?”
Lowery added that for the first time in two decades, Harrisburg School District is not constructing a new building. The debt for an old project is also paid off, which will decrease the levy used to determine property taxes in the district.
The change comes at the same time as a “small” 1.25% increase in annual state funding for schools and “detrimental” impacts from Gov. Larry Rhoden’s recently adopted property tax relief package, Lowery said. The package sets five-year, 3% annual caps on countywide growth in owner-occupied home assessments and the amount that school capital outlay budgets can increase as a result of new construction, which means districts growing at a higher rate than 3% are losing funds.
“It’s not allowing us to just take care of our general operation needs, such as our roads and parking lots and brick and mortar,” Lowery said. “Growth causes expense.”
Nold, of Sioux Falls, told attendees he doesn’t care what source the funding for the district comes from as long as it “continues to provide the quality services that we do for our kids.”
The two superintendents are monitoring the property tax discussion, as well as other legislative issues that’ll affect South Dakota education during the annual legislative session that begins in January. Nold added that task force members “don’t have the final say” on property tax reform.
“There will be a lot of other input that’ll take place outside of what was said in that committee, so we’ll see what the final outcome is,” Nold said.
SOUTH DAKOTA OPENING FREE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The SD Board of Regents announced that students can apply for admission at all of South Dakota’s public universities and colleges at no cost for a period of time.
The Free Application Period runs from October 1 to November 30, 2025.
Students can apply online to the following institutions without paying an application fee:
Black Hills State University
Dakota State University
Lake Area Technical College
Mitchell Technical College
Northern State University
South Dakota Mines
South Dakota State University
Southeast Technical College
University of South Dakota
Western Dakota Technical College
Mitchell Technical College, Southeast Technical College and Western Dakota Technical College have no application fee year-round.
Additionally, the FAFSA will also open on October 1.
