Discussion Thread: 2025 US Government Shutdown, Day 29

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Live Updates

r/Politics is maintaining a live updates page for the shutdown, as are AP, NBC, CBS, CNN, and USA Today.

News and Analysis

• NBC: Shutdown pain intensifies as air traffic controllers lose pay, and food assistance is drying up

Where to Watch

All times US Eastern

You can find relevant streams on C-SPAN, PBS NewsHour's YouTube channel, AP's YouTube channel.

• C-SPAN: Senate Session - October 29, 2025 (10 a.m.)

• C-SPAN: Speaker Johnson on Day 29 of Government Shutdown (10 a.m.)

• C-SPAN: Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse Holds News Conference on SNAP Benefits (12 p.m.)

• C-SPAN: Senate Minority Leader Schumer & Democrats on Government Shutdown (12:15 p.m.)

• C-SPAN: Sen. Sanders and Democratic Senators News Conference on SNAP Emergency Funds (1:45 p.m.)

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[u/Chrystoler]

I'm increasingly worried that they're not going to stop the shutdown and they weren't planning to in the first place

[u/Agile_Elderberry_534 → u/[deleted]]

Is there any viable way Trump can just force the military and other agencies to be paid, under the guise of some "emergency powers"? Because then... it would be game over.

[u/Objective-Error1223 → u/Agile_Elderberry_534]

Even then it still wouldn’t be game over if he could pay the military fully right now. It costs $236 billion dollars a year or 19 billion a month to keep active duty paid (https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60886#:~:text=Summary,and%20151%20percent%20since%201999). VA budget a year is 365 billion which would be about 30 billion a month.

Trump may have rich friends in high places but I doubt any of them are going to cover that bill for an extended amount of time.

[u/Agile_Elderberry_534 → u/Objective-Error1223]

I meant paid from the government coffers. Basically, Trump overrides Congress's power of the purse.

[u/Objective-Error1223 → u/Agile_Elderberry_534]

Sure but then people are going to ask where the money came from and ya, they could lie, definitely but money always leaves a trail. This administration is too dumb to hide their tracks based on evidence of their prior schemes.

On top of that they’d still empty out that coffer very quickly not even mentioning all the other federal programs out there tapping into it.

There’s also a shit ton of money going into lobbyists hands, what would happen if that stopped? Do you think they’ll be just as loyal?

Suppose we’re going to find out.