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The federal government is currently shut down.

Starting in the early hours of Wednesday Washington time, the federal government exhausted its funding.

Federal offices and bureaus tasked with safeguarding consumers, workers, and investors are now officially closed, along with museums and national parks.

The majority of government employees are going without pay – as many as 750,000 may face temporary leave – even staff mandated to stay at work, such as military personnel and air-traffic controllers.

So-called “mandatory” spending, including Social Security and Medicare payments, are continuing, yet payments may arrive late. The construction of Trump’s new White House ballroom will continue uninterrupted.

Shutdowns are symptoms of a government off the rails.

Having experienced two shutdowns firsthand, one when I was secretary of labor. The ensuing fear, frustration, and chaos are difficult to convey. I recall spending the first day consoling employees – many in tears as they headed out the door.

Since 1990, the U.S. has seen eight shutdowns. Four of those have occurred under Trump’s administration.

However, this closure is distinct.

To begin with, it’s the consequence of a decision by Trump and Senate Republicans in July to pass Trump’s gigantic “big beautiful bill” (which I call the “big ugly” bill) without any Democratic votes.

This was possible due to the Senate’s “reconciliation” process, enabling the bill to pass with a simple majority instead of the usual 60 votes needed to bypass a filibuster.

The vote was extremely close. Every Senate Democrat voted against the bill. After three Senate Republicans sided with them, JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote. Some Republicans bragged that they didn’t need a single Democrat.

The big ugly fundamentally altered the priorities of the United States government. It cut about $1tn from healthcare programs, including Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, meaning that health insurance premiums for tens of millions of Americans will soar starting in January.

The big ugly also cut nutrition assistance and environmental protection, while boosting immigration enforcement and cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations.

Trump and Senate Republicans didn’t need a single Democrat then. However, now, they couldn’t employ reconciliation to fund the government.

Now Democratic Senate votes were essential.

But funding the government meant upholding the very bill all Senate Democrats rejected.

Which is why Senate Democrats refused to sign on unless most of the big ugly’s cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act were restored, to prevent premium hikes next year.

Even if Senate Democrats had obtained that concession, the GOP funding bill would keep tax cuts for the rich and corporations, plus nutrition cuts and heightened immigration funding.

A deeper irony exists.

As a practical matter, the US government has been “shut down” for more than eight months, since Trump’s return to office.

Trump and the sycophants surrounding him, including OMB director Russell Vought, and, before him, Elon Musk, have had no compunction about shutting down parts of the government they don’t like – such as USAID.

They’ve also acted to dismiss or furlough vast numbers of federal workers doing work they don’t value, such as those working at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

They’ve withheld congressional funds for opposed activities, throughout the federal system.

On the first day of the shutdown, Vought declared an $18 billion freeze that Congress had appropriated for funding infrastructure in New York City (home to the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and the House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries).

All of this is illegal, but it seems unlikely that courts will act soon enough to prevent the administration from harming vast numbers of Americans.

Vought menaced further permanent firings if the Democrats didn’t vote to continue funding the government. But nothing stopped Vought from doing it before the shutdown, and the shutdown offers no extra leverage.

In fact, the eagerness of Trump and his lapdogs over the last eight months to disregard the will of Congress and close whatever they want of the government offers another reason why Democrats shouldn’t have caved in.

Had Democrats voted to keep the government going, what guarantee would they have had that Trump would in fact keep the government going?

Democrats finally have some bargaining leverage. They should use it.

Should millions lose health coverage in January due to unaffordable premiums, Trump and his Republicans will be blamed.

The responsibility lies with Trump and Republicans regardless – it stems from their legislation – but this way, in the fight over whether to reopen the government, Americans will have a chance to see Democrats standing up for them.