Michiganders will be going without pay, food assistance, critical airplane safety, and more

LANSING — For ten days, Trump and Republicans have kept the federal government shut down, endangering countless Michiganders’ jobs, lives, and communities because they would rather pass a tax cut for billionaires than protect our healthcare. From food stamps to national parks to health care, Republicans’ government shutdown is getting more and more dangerous with every passing day. 

Every day, hundreds of federal workers are forced to continue to work without pay or promise of back pay as they keep planes, Social Security offices, national parks, and military bases on track. In practice, this means that the workers who are most fundamental to Michiganders’ safety and well-being might be unable to pay rent or put food on the table for their own families during this shutdown. 

Unfortunately, Mike Rogers, John James, Tom Barrett, and Bill Huizenga are backing this Republican shutdown while ignoring the state’s looming health care crisis: nearly half a million Michiganders will likely see their health care premiums more than double on average if Republicans allow ACA premium tax credits to expire, starting in January. That’s on top of the hundreds of thousands of Michiganders who are at risk of losing their health insurance entirely because of the toxic GOP tax law supported by Rogers, James, Barrett, Huizenga, and Michigan Republicans. 

While Democrats are ready to negotiate and address the health care affordability crisis, Michigan Republicans have been absent and are letting this shutdown impact countless Michiganders.

Check out more about the impact on Michigan below: 

Detroit News: What the government shutdown means for jobs, air travel, food stamps in Michigan

• Michigan residents could soon start to feel the pinch of a prolonged shutdown of the federal government, with funding projected to run out for several programs in the coming days and weeks that could hit food aid, U.S. courthouses and subsidies for air travel to rural communities…
• Many of the state’s estimated 29,800 civilian federal workers are furloughed, while staff deemed essential to protecting life or property — including Coast Guard members, Border Patrol agents and air traffic controllers ― are supposed to continue to work, not knowing when their next paycheck will arrive.

CBS Detroit: Here’s how the federal government shutdown is affecting Michigan

• With Congress failing to reach an agreement on a federal budget, a federal government shutdown began at 12:01 Wednesday. October 1 is the start of the fiscal year for federal government.
• The shutdown-related announcements and contingency plans directly affecting Michigan residents include who gets paid (or not); closings for some visitor centers; agency training schedules and public communications.

Bridge Michigan: Affordable Care Act subsidies and US shutdown: What’s at stake in Michigan

• Democrats want assurances that the credits will be extended into the new year and that Medicaid cuts previously approved by President Donald Trump will be reversed…
• Policy analysts with the health policy research group KFF note that the introduction of the enhanced premium tax credit doubled the number of individuals who received a Marketplace insurance plan, with more 24 million enrollees reported in 2025, with 92% of Marketplace enrollees receiving the tax credit. 

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