Government Shutdown: Why it Happened and What to Expect w Sen Ted Cruz

The Ben Ferguson Podcast

iHeartPodcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.9 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Cause of Shutdown:
- Shutdown occurred after Congress failed to pass funding past September 30.
- Cruz argues Democrats deliberately blocked a CR to appease their progressive base.
Senate Dynamics:
- A CR passed the House but failed in the Senate, receiving 55 votes instead of the required 60.
- Three Democrats (Fetterman, Cortez Masto, Angus King) voted with Republicans to keep government open.
Partisan Framing:
- Democrats are motivated by hatred of Trump and internal party pressures.
- Schumer is depicted as fearing a primary challenge from AOC and pandering to the left wing.
Policy Disputes:
- Republicans claim Democrats demanded benefits such as free healthcare for undocumented immigrants and removal of work requirements for welfare.
- The conversation suggests these were “unrealistic demands” meant only as political theater.
Impact of Shutdown:
- Essential services (military, law enforcement, FAA) continue, but workers go unpaid temporarily.
- Nonessential services like national parks and Smithsonian museums shut down.
Political Messaging:
- Cruz and the host argue this is the “Schumer shutdown,” not a bipartisan failure.
- They highlight Democrat statements from past years criticizing shutdown tactics, suggesting hypocrisy.
- WATCH WH Hakeem Jeffries VIDEO HERE
Strategic Angle:
- The Trump administration is said to plan permanent layoffs (“reduction in force”) of federal bureaucrats during the shutdown, targeting those seen as left-leaning.
- This is framed as a strategic opportunity to reshape the federal workforce.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:04.0	What I told people, I was making a podcast about Benghazi.
0:08.5	Nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked, why?
0:15.1	Benghazi, the truth became a web of lies.
0:18.5	From prologue projects and Pushkin Industries, this is Fiasco, Benghazi.
0:23.9	What difference at this point does it make?
0:27.4	Listen to Fiasco, Benghazi, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:35.4	Democrats are holding Americans hostage, refusing to do what Republicans did seven times during the Biden administration,
0:44.9	simply agreed to a continuing resolution until the broader government plan, the financial plan, could be agreed to.
0:53.4	But this time the Democrats said no. Why? They want to
0:57.3	hurt Americans and they want to put illegal immigrants first. We have a lot to talk about when it comes
1:03.8	to what all happened. And now this all comes down to the Senate because the overall plan has already
1:10.1	made its way out of the House.
1:12.0	So what is next? I want you to hear what Senator Cruz had to say because all this revolves around
1:17.6	what's happening in the Senate. The United States government is shut down. The Democrats, they did it
1:24.4	on purpose. Apparently it was their plan. And the question is, for how long have they been planning on doing this?
1:31.3	Senator, this is going to be a very interesting show. This all revolves around the Senate. That is something that maybe some people don't realize. Everything's come out of the House. We're now to the Senate side of things.
1:43.6	And I want you to explain what it was like in the hours leading up of the house. We're now to the Senate side of things. And I want you to explain
1:45.1	what it was like in the hours leading up to the shutdown. Was there ever a chance in hell that the
1:50.3	government wasn't going to shut down? No. There was never a chance. It is just after midnight.
1:57.1	So the government is shut down just for a few minutes. But I think the government
2:02.5	shutdown is going to last at the minimum of days. It may be weeks and it may even be longer.
	...

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