"Each time President Donald Trump-nominally the leader for the entire country-has been asked about the government shutdown, he has replied with the rhetorical equivalent of a shrug, claiming that the situation is hurting "Democrat things" and that he is protecting the paychecks and priorities of his supporters. "The Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown because we're closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to," he told reporters last Tuesday."
"The Department of Agriculture halted crucial farm aid just as planning for the 2026 planting season was getting under way. Furloughs and mass layoffs, meanwhile, have decimated a small-business-lending program popular in rural communities. Federal subsidies keeping small-town airports afloat are scheduled to run out within days. And despite what Trump might suggest, the majority of the federal employees who are currently going without a paycheck live outside of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area."
President Donald Trump has portrayed the shutdown as hurting "Democrat things" while claiming to protect supporters' paychecks and priorities. He has redirected federal funds and taken steps over weeks to shield preferred beneficiaries from shutdown harms while disadvantaging opponents. The attempt to create clear red-blue winners and losers has failed, and MAGA supporters have already felt effects. Farmers face halted farm aid and disrupted planning for the 2026 planting season. Furloughs and layoffs have decimated a small-business lending program used in rural areas, and small-town airport subsidies are expiring. Most furloughed federal employees live outside Washington, D.C., including many in Trump-friendly states.
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