The shutdown continues
Make Me Smart
Marketplace
4.6 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2025
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s Day 28 of the government shutdown, and lawmakers still aren’t budging on the budget. But Congress faces key deadlines this week: Funds for assistance programs like SNAP could run out, and Americans may see their healthcare premiums skyrocket as open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans begins Nov. 1. On today’s show, Kimberly unpacks what’s at stake with CQ Roll Call reporter Aris Folley. Plus, we’ll answer some of your questions along the way.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
- ”6 ways the shutdown is about to get worse” from Politico
- ”Largest federal workers union calls for an end to the shutdown, putting pressure on Democrats” from NBC
- ”Government shutdown continues to add to stress on air traffic controllers and disrupt flights” from AP News
- ”As Shutdown Drags and Trump Flexes, Congress Cedes Its Relevance” from the New York Times
We want to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email [email protected].
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, everyone. I'm Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where none of us is as smart as all of us. |
| 0:12.8 | And none of us are as deadlocked, it seems, as Congress, because we are on day 28 of the government shutdown. |
| 0:20.3 | And the pressure on Congress to reopen |
| 0:22.6 | the government is really, really starting to build. Most federal workers have already missed a full |
| 0:28.3 | paycheck and a half a one in some cases. Funds for certain aid programs, including SNAP and |
| 0:34.4 | Head Start are running out. Flights are being disrupted across the country as TSA agents and air traffic controllers are going without pay. |
| 0:43.0 | So today we're going to unpack where things stand with the shutdown and answer some of the questions that we've been getting from you, our beloved members of our audience, along the way. |
| 0:52.5 | And here to help us out is Eis Foley. She reports on the |
| 0:55.7 | budget and appropriations process, or lack thereof. For CQ roll call, Aris, welcome to the show. |
| 1:02.0 | Thanks for having me. So this SNAP situation is really a huge deal. We've got 42 million |
| 1:09.9 | low-income Americans who could go without food |
| 1:12.5 | assistance after this week. How much pressure do you think that issue in particular is putting |
| 1:17.1 | on Congress right now? No, it's definitely putting an avalanche pressure on Democrats and |
| 1:23.8 | Republicans. There's been conversation, of course, around moving Senator Holly's bill |
| 1:30.8 | that's aimed at preventing the disruption in payments next month. But you also have Democrats |
| 1:35.8 | who are saying that the administration does have the authority to be able to use contingency |
| 1:41.0 | funds and other funds to ensure that there isn't a disruption |
| 1:46.4 | in pay. But it definitely adds a huge amount of pressure this weekend, especially because |
| 1:52.1 | that deadline also kind of glides with the deadline for the start for open enrollment for |
| 1:58.1 | health care. Yeah, it's been the big issue whether or not Congress is going to do anything about these |
| 2:03.9 | expiring Obamacare tax credits. |
| 2:07.6 | But, I mean, like you mentioned, the White House has been able, I should say President Trump |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Marketplace, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Marketplace and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.