US Capitol, Washington, D.C., September 30, 2025 (Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty)
I joined international outlets on Wednesday to evaluate the shutdown of the US Government.
I describe the fundamental issue: the Trump Administration’s attempt to assert its power over Congress v. the Democrat pursuit to reverse cuts to health care.
I outline the cost, from the 750,000 furloughed federal employees to crippled Government services to Medicare and Medicaid recipients to almost 40 million Americans who obtained health insurance since 2013.
And I answer questions about the political effects, as the economic toll of a shutdown, mass unemployment of Government workers purged by the Administration, and Trump’s chaotic tariff converges.
Watch Al Arabiya English from 8:18
I speak with host Leigh-Ann Gerrans, knocking back the disinformation and propaganda of Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and other officials blaming the shutdown on Democrats.
This is not the far left of the Democratic Party. Health care is a centrist issue. You’ll find many Republicans saying privately that they would be worried.
The reality is that while some Republicans want to keep health care going, the man in the White House does not.
Sometimes issues are political rhetoric. Sometimes issues are fundamental to how Americans live.
I place the shutdown amid the Trump Administration’s closure and purge of Government agencies: “You can’t keep cutting the Government and firing hundreds of thousands of employees without affecting day-to-day services. How far do they go before their own supporters say, ‘This is affecting me’?”
Listen to Dublin NewsTalk
In a 13-minute discussion, host Sean Moncrieff and I “make sense of it all” amid the politics, Trump’s quest for power, and the everyday damage.
Listen to BBC Radio Ulster from 40:22
I began Wednesday with an explainer on BBC Radio Ulster about the nature and extent of the shutdown. I outline the issues and consider whether the closure might exceed the 35-day record set in 2019 amid Donald Trump’s quest for his Wall with Mexico.
I don’t see either side compromising in the near future. So it becomes a political question: who gets blamed as Americans risk losing health care?
