No End in Sight for Federal Shutdown. What Does It Mean for the Bay Area?

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the federal government shutdown extends to its fifth week, its impacts have become more widespread. Over one million federal workers are either on furlough or working unpaid. Most federal parks remain closed. Head Start programs are at risk of closure. And the USDA has announced it would suspend funding for SNAP, a food program that serves over 40 million Americans, including 5.38 million Californians. We’ll talk about the impacts of this government impasse on the Bay Area, and hear from you: How have you been affected by the government shutdown? Guests: Luke Broadwater, White House reporter, New York Times - his recent article on the shutdown is titled "The Shutdown Is Stretching On. Trump Doesn’t Seem to Mind" Chris Lehnertz, president and CEO, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Carly Severn, senior editor of audience news, KQED Tee Tran, founder and owner, Monster Pho, a restaurant located in Oakland Yasmeem Watson, case advocate, Treasury Department - Watson has been a federal employee for over 25 years, and serves as a steward and board member for the local affiliate of the National Treasury Employees Union Caitlin Sly, president and CEO, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from Star One Credit Union. Give your savings account the love it deserves.
0:07.8	When you keep your money with Star One, you keep more of your money. Star One Credit Union in your best interest.
0:15.2	If you had the smartest Wi-Fi, it'd be Xfinity. It would boost speeds to the devices that needed them most,
0:22.9	and to protect you from threats at home and online. Xfinity. Imagine that. Restrictions apply.
0:30.8	From KQED. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. As we've discussed on the air before, shutdowns
0:39.3	to the federal government have become a feature of American politics over the last 25 years.
0:44.3	But this one shows signs of being longer and more damaging than the others.
0:50.3	We're now on day 29 of this shutdown and here to talk with us about the politics and the impacts.
0:58.0	We've got two journalists, Luke Broadwater from the New York Times, who's covering the politics of the shutdown.
1:02.7	Thanks for joining us, Luke.
1:04.6	Hi, how are you?
1:05.8	Yeah, good, good. Thanks for coming on.
1:07.6	We've also got Carly Severn, who is leading the team here at KQD that serves our listeners
1:12.5	and users in particular ways with guides and explainers, helpful items.
1:16.9	Thank you for joining us, Carly.
1:18.8	Thank you, Alexis.
1:19.6	Thanks for having us on.
1:20.8	So Luke, remind me where we are.
1:23.5	Like I feel like it's Groundhog Day here.
1:26.9	Nothing seems to be changing. We're weeks into this thing. Like, how'd like it's Groundhog Day here. Nothing seems to be changing.
1:28.5	We're weeks into this thing.
1:30.4	Like, how'd we get here?
	...

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