California Governor Gavin Newsom jumped into Washington’s budget controversy, mocking the White House while Republicans and Democrats hurled accusations over who shutdown the federal government into a shutdown at midnight, after Congress failed to meet a Wednesday deadline to keep the lights on.
Newsom zeroed in on a post from Trump’s administration that declared “DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN LOADING,” then clapped back on X with a screenshot of Musk’s AI bot Grok answering that Republicans currently control Washington. “Sad to see Grok is smarter than the White House,” he wrote, a tech-age taunt that ricocheted across social feeds.
Behind the memes and social media back and forth, real stakes piled up for Americans. The government is officially closed, paychecks are paused, and hundreds of thousands of workers are bracing for furloughs while both parties posture for advantage. Live updates warned of up to 750,000 federal employees facing furloughs as agencies scramble to triage services, the consequences of the shutdown will affect everything from national parks to lab benches to airport security lines.
Republicans tried to push a short-term funding patch across the finish line, a continuing resolution that would run through November 21, but Democrats balked, saying the bill was booby-trapped because it ignored health care provisions they argue are non-negotiable for millions of Americans buying coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. In the Senate, the GOP plan drew a majority but still collapsed under the 60-vote threshold, leaving lawmakers pointing fingers as the clock hit zero.
Health care is the key factor, and the rhetoric has turned toxic. Republicans have blasted Democrats for allegedly trying to bankroll benefits for undocumented immigrants, a claim that has been repeatedly flagged as false. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for ACA marketplace coverage, and Democrats say they aim to extend enhanced subsidies that hold down premiums for citizens and lawfully present enrollees, and to undo Medicaid cuts the right embraced earlier this year. Letting those subsidies lapse could jack up premiums and push millions off coverage, according to policy analysts.
The fight also spilled into the mud of internet disinformation. On Monday, President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated clip that portrayed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spouting crude lines and suggesting Democrats want to hand out “free health care” to undocumented immigrants, while a deepfaked Hakeem Jeffries appeared in a sombrero and fake mustache, an ugly stunt that drew immediate backlash as ‘racist.’ Jeffries blasted the video as bigoted while allies called it a sideshow designed to inflame the base and muddy the real policy debate.
If all that sounds like campaign season theater, the shutdown math is not. With no deal in sight, workers are sent home, contractors bleed cash, and basic services grind down to a halt, a dynamic that historically leaves both parties losing favor with the public. The White House and congressional leaders insist they want a deal, but each side is betting the other will break first, Republicans demanding Democrats swallow a “clean” CR, Democrats demanding health care protections that the right dismisses as a ransom note.
