NC lawmaker learned lesson from his role in another ‘idiotic’ shutdown, he says

Rep. Richard Hudson recalled an “idiotic shutdown” he was part of his freshman year of Congress and compared it to the final scene of “Animal House.”

It was 2013, the government shut down for 16 days, 800,000 federal workers were furloughed and 1.3 million others did not know when or if they would be paid.

That was history’s third-longest shutdown, though the current one is likely to knock 2013 into fourth place.

During both shutdowns, Republicans and Democrats fought over aspects of the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare.

In 2013, then-Rep. Mark Meadows, a freshman Republican from Western North Carolina, led 80 of his chamber’s colleagues in signing a letter of support for defunding the Affordable Care Act. Hudson’s signature appears on the letter.

A similar letter was sent around in the Senate. One North Carolinian who didn’t sign it was then-Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican from Winston-Salem, who told Bloomberg that shutting down the government over defunding the ACA “was one of the dumbest ideas” he had ever heard.

In retrospect, it seems that Hudson now agrees with Burr.

Hudson was speaking to a reporter Thursday morning at an event hosted by Punchbowl News when he made his comments.

“At the time we were having a civil war in our party, per se,” Hudson said. “We kept telling our leaders — Speaker (John) Boehner, Majority Leader (Eric) Cantor — we’ve got to fight. We’ve got to show the base we’re fighting.”

But he added that their leadership kept reminding them that they had no exit ramp and no way out of the shutdown. At the time, Hudson said, they didn’t care. They just felt they had to keep fighting, he said.

“It’s kind of like the scene in Animal House at the end, when they lead the marching band into the alley and they head against the wall,” Hudson said. “That’s what the 2013 shutdown was for us. That’s exactly what the Democrats are doing now. It’s the same thing.”

In September, Republicans attempted to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at its current levels and continue to negotiate the nation’s budget through Nov. 21. But Democrats refused to vote for the bill, demanding a clawback of Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and an extension of Biden-era enhancements to tax credits that subsidize insurance in the Obamacare health insurance marketplace. Without the latter, millions of Americans are set to see their premiums double by the end of the year.

When Republicans didn’t give into their demands, Democrats didn’t vote for the continuing resolution and government funding ran out after 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30.

“Schumer is trying to show the base that they can fight,” Hudson said. “They’ve picked an unreasonable ask. There’s no way out for them. They’re marching into this alley, and they’re starting to hit that wall. So at some point, hopefully, reason will prevail, and we’ll get back to work.”

Hudson made clear he believes that federal employees should get back pay for wages lost during the shutdown. The Trump administration has said that’s not guaranteed to happen.

Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency and public polling shows they are taking the brunt of blame for the shutdown.

The House left Washington on Sept. 19 after passing the continuing resolution. That bill stalled in the Senate, where lawmakers have unsuccessfully voted on its passage seven times.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has canceled session ever since, including Tuesday, when the chamber was next scheduled to vote. Johnson told House members he would provide 48-hour notice of when representatives should return — though his messaging makes it sound like that will not happen until the Senate acts.

The Senate left Thursday night, and will not return until after 3 p.m. Tuesday, when they plan to vote for an eighth time on the continuing resolution. But so far it does not appear that either side is willing to negotiate.

“I’m not sure how we end this current stalemate,” Hudson said. “But as soon as we get to the other side, I think you’ll start seeing work begin again.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM.

Danielle Battaglia

McClatchy DC

Danielle Battaglia is the D.C. correspondent for The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, leading coverage of North Carolina’s congressional delegation and elections. She also covers the White House. Her career has spanned three North Carolina newsrooms where she has covered crime, courts and local, state and national politics. She has won two McClatchy President’s awards and numerous national and state awards for her work.