Shutdown brings memories of past Republican fights with different outcomes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Government shutdown began after Congress failed to pass funding, resuming gridlock.
- Patrick McHenry served as first interim House speaker, steering replacement process.
- Trump and OMB director pursue agency cuts, framing shutdown as policy opportunity.
Happy Monday! It’s Danielle Battaglia with the latest edition of Under the Dome, focused on the actions of the Trump administration.
Oct. 3 — that’s a key date both for politicos and pop culture junkies.
If you’re the latter, go rewatch Lindsay Lohan’s “Mean Girls” or listen to Taylor Swift’s “Life of a Showgirl.”
If you’re a political junkie, I’ll remind you why Oct. 3 matters (hint: retired Rep. Patrick McHenry is involved).
Overnight Tuesday, the government shut down after Congress failed to pass a budget.
The mood in the Capitol was bleak. Members of Congress would keep getting their paychecks while every other federal worker in the building would continue to work without pay or be sent home until further notice.
It’s not lost on me that two years ago to the day, we were almost in this exact predicament, had House Speaker Kevin McCarthy not sacrificed his career.
That Saturday, Sept. 30, my sister and I traveled to Fredericksburg to adopt her dog, and I believed at any moment I would be called back to Washington to deal with a government shutdown.
But McCarthy, to the ire of the far-right members of his caucus, worked with Democrats to avert that from happening, passing a government funding bill. He did so without including deep spending cuts those far-right members of his party were demanding.
President Donald Trump — who was out of office at the time — posted on Truth Social: “The Republicans lost big on Debt Ceiling, got NOTHING, and now are worried that they will be BLAMED for the Budget Shutdown. Wrong!!! Whoever is President will be blamed...UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN! Close the Border, stop the Weaponization of ‘Justice,’ and End Election Interference.”
Republicans like then-Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, had warned McCarthy there would be consequences if he worked with Democrats on this vote.
Those consequences came three days later, on Oct. 3.
I was sitting in the House gallery that day, in 2023, watching each member of the House announce whether they agreed McCarthy should be ousted as speaker. Democrats worked with the far-right to ensure that happened.
The media sits above the speaker’s podium in the House so we’re looking at the face of the members and can’t actually see the speaker. McCarthy was sitting among the other House members watching the vote, but what I didn’t know was that McHenry, a Republican from Lincoln County, was making his way to the dais underneath me to take over as interim speaker.
I couldn’t see him, but his anger was evidence from that gavel bang heard round the world.
For 22 days, McHenry had to weigh how much power an interim speaker should have — he was the first in history — and the process to replace McCarthy. This all happened as Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, a war that continues two years later.
As the anniversary of all this approached this week, I watched McHenry, who retired from the House at the end of 2024, take his new seat on CNN where he serves as a contributor. He told network anchor Kasie Hunt he believed the shutdown would happen and would last at least a week and a half.
McHenry’s prediction seems likely to come to fruition. The government did shut down, and on Friday, the Senate voted for the fourth time to try to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at its current levels for another seven weeks, but Democrats wouldn’t agree.
They went home for the weekend with plans to return today. The House, which has been gone for two weeks, plans to return Oct. 14.
And President Donald Trump, well, he’s unbothered by the moment.
On Thursday, he announced he and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought were meeting to determine what agencies needed cuts and whether those cuts should be temporary or permanent.
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote. “They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Apparently, this time, he doesn’t think “whoever is president” will be blamed.
Other stories we worked on:
- The government shut down overnight Tuesday. Here’s how North Carolina will be affected.
- North Carolina lawmakers are saying a lot about the shutdown. I break down what’s true and what’s not.
- Is the shutdown really over providing health care to immigrants in the United States without authorization? I explain why Republicans are making that claim.
- Evan Moore reports how North Carolina airports might be affected by the shutdown.
- Moore also explains whether mail delivery will be impacted.
- We are in hurricane season. Renee Umsted reports whether the shutdown might affect the National Weather Service.
- A government shutdown means tens of thousands of federal employees living in North Carolina are not being paid, as well as 200 state employees paid through federal funds. Evan Moore tells you whether this is legal.
- Nathan Collins and David Raynor break down the impact furloughs have on North Carolina’s federal workers.
- Gov. Josh Stein criticizes Sen. Phil Berger’s suggestion to redistrict North Carolina, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan reports.
That’s it for now. Be kind to each other. And check back tomorrow for the Under the Dome podcast.
Also, if the government shutdown is having an impact on your or your family, we want to know about it. Tell us about it at this link.
If you have any feedback or tips for this edition of the newsletter feel free to reach out to me directly at dbattaglia@mcclatchydc.com.
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This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
