The Take: Why did the US government shut down?
![The U.S. Capitol as the sun begins to set during the first day of a partial government shutdown in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 1, 2025 [Annabelle Gordon/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-10-02T001306Z_1776223113_RC2A3HALH3G2_RTRMADP_3_USA-SHUTDOWN-1759447703.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
The United States federal government is closed for business. Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to agree on a budget to keep the government open. But over two million federal workers who will go without a paycheque during negotiations have a new worry: Will President Donald Trump use the shutdown to eliminate some of their jobs permanently?
In this episode:
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- Heidi Zhou-Castro (@HeidiZhouCastro), Al Jazeera Correspondent
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Melanie Marich, Sarí el-Khalili, and Tracie Hunte with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Amy Walters, Kisaa Zehra, Farhan Rafid, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Kylene Kiang.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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