All of this means that Democratic spending priorities might be in jeopardy regardless of whether they want to keep the government open or partially closed. “These are all things that the Trump administration has been doing since January 20th,” Jeffries said. “The cruelty is the point.”House Speaker Mike Johnson underscored Thursday that the shutdown gives Trump and Vought vast power over the federal government. Might harm the economyWith no easy endgame at hand, the standoff risks dragging deeper into October, when federal workers who remain on the job will begin missing paychecks. Reshape the federal governmentWith Congress as a standstill, the Trump administration has taken advantage of new levers to determine how to shape the federal government.