The basics
The federal government has been partly shut down since October 1, after Congress failed to pass funding bills on time. That means most federal agencies cannot spend money or pay workers until new legislation is approved. Many federal employees are furloughed, meaning they are sent home without pay, while others are required to keep working without pay until the shutdown ends.
During this shutdown, President Trump said his administration is ending certain federal programs that were created or expanded under Democratic leadership.
“We’re closing up programs that are Democrat programs,” he said during a meeting in the Oval Office with advisers Kash Patel and Pam Bondi, according to reporting from The Washington Post (washingtonpost.com).
Layoffs have already begun in several federal agencies. The Associated Press reported that more than 4,000 federal employees were set to lose their jobs before a judge temporarily blocked the mass firings (apnews.com). Other outlets including Reuters and Politico confirm that the White House is using the shutdown period to identify and close programs it considers wasteful or politically opposed to its agenda (reuters.com, politico.com).
That raises an important question: Can a president cancel programs that Congress created, especially during a shutdown when Congress holds the power of the purse?
What the Constitution says about money and power
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to decide how federal money is spent.
“No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.” — Article I, Section 9
In simple terms, only Congress can authorize spending. The president’s job is to carry out those laws, not rewrite or repeal them.
This balance is part of what is called the separation of powers. It ensures that no single branch of government can make, fund, and enforce laws entirely on its own.
Both the president and members of Congress are elected by the people, but they represent different kinds of power. The president speaks for the nation as a whole, while members of Congress carry the voices of specific states and districts. When major decisions about federal programs happen without congressional approval, the national voice remains, but the local ones are cut out.
That means voters in Northeast Texas, and every other community, lose the channel designed to connect their local priorities to federal policy.
Why shutdowns happen
Shutdowns occur when Congress and the president cannot agree on a spending plan. The Antideficiency Act forbids federal agencies from spending money that has not been appropriated by Congress. When that happens, most agencies must stop or reduce their operations until new funding is passed (govinfo.gov).
Normally, when a shutdown ends, the affected programs and employees pick up where they left off. This time, though, the administration says some programs will not return.
What’s new this time
The White House has said it is permanently closing programs that it calls “Democrat programs.” The Office of Management and Budget has also paused more than $11 billion in Army Corps of Engineers projects, many of them in Democratic-led cities (sfchronicle.com).
Federal judges are reviewing whether the layoffs and program closures violate civil-service law or the Constitution’s separation of powers. The AP reports that one judge issued a temporary restraining order halting further firings until the administration can justify its actions (apnews.com).
If the president can end programs that Congress created without new legislation, that would represent a major shift in how American government works.
Why this matters in real life
To many people in Northeast Texas, Washington politics can feel far away. But the effects of these decisions reach all the way to local communities.
Federal programs fund everything from rural broadband to farm support, veterans’ health clinics, school lunches, and highway repairs. If the executive branch can end those programs on its own, the impact could land on small towns, farms, and schools — regardless of which party holds power.
What happens now could set a precedent for future presidents to use a shutdown as a way to permanently change federal policy.
| Federal Program | What the disruption is | Relevance to rural Northeast Texas (Hunt County & nearby) |
|---|---|---|
| Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) | Texas officials warn that if the shutdown continues, SNAP food-benefit payments may be halted in November. | Many households in rural areas rely on SNAP. Delay or cutoff of benefits means increased pressure on local food banks and families. |
| Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) | Local reporting in Texas notes WIC funding may run out sooner than SNAP if shutdown drags on. | Clinics serving mothers and young children in smaller towns may face staff/funding issues, impacting nutrition and health. |
| State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program (via federal Digital Equity Act funding) | Texas paused grants and contracts tied to this program because of federal “realignment/uncertainty”. | Rural broadband expansion (important for farmers, small-businesses, home-offices, schools) may face delays or cancellations. |
| United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm & Rural Development programs (e.g., disaster-aid, commodity payments, loans) | USDA announced it will not implement or process many programs during the shutdown: disaster assistance, certain farm-bill payments (ARC/PLC), rural loan processing. | Farmers and ranchers in Northeast Texas may experience delays in payments, loans or assistance after floods/droughts — which impacts farm cash-flow and local supply chains. |
| USDA Section 502 Guaranteed Loans (rural home‐ownership loans) | Reporting shows USDA home loans for rural areas are paused — zero-down options, repairs etc. | Prospective home-buyers in rural Texas may lose out on affordable loan programs; housing starts and local construction ripple out to the rest of community. |
| Essential Air Service (EAS) Program | Due to shutdown, subsidies for rural air service (via EAS) are set to expire—affecting communities relying on the program. | While Hunt County may not have its own airport in EAS program, surrounding rural areas or regional connections may suffer if air service drops—impacts business travel, medical access and economic ties. |
- Even if a program is not yet fully shut down, the risk is real. Many agencies have “paused” or delayed work because of the funding lapse — which means a local business, farmer or family might not feel anything today, but could soon.
- Rural areas often rely more on federal programs (for farm aid, rural housing, broadband, nutrition) because local/state resources are thinner. That means each of these disruptions may hit harder here.
- When you combine a benefit delay (like SNAP or WIC) with a farm loan or broadband delay, the result can be double trouble: less money at home + less access to services = more strain on small-town budgets and community resources.
What legal experts are warning about
Legal scholars across the political spectrum are raising concerns that using a shutdown to permanently end programs goes beyond the president’s authority. The Constitution’s “Take Care Clause” says the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Ending or defunding programs that Congress has enacted could violate that obligation.
Congress can respond by passing new laws, holding oversight hearings, or taking the matter to court. But until those actions occur, the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches remains in question.
The bigger picture
Shutdowns are intended to be a pressure point to push both sides toward a budget agreement. They are not meant to give one branch of government the ability to reshape policy on its own.
If future presidents use shutdowns to eliminate programs they disagree with, the United States could face a steady weakening of Congress’s control over spending. That is the kind of imbalance the founders sought to prevent when they wrote the Constitution.
Bottom line
Every shutdown hurts federal workers and the communities that depend on them. This one could also test the limits of presidential power.
Congress creates and funds programs. The president’s duty is to carry those laws out faithfully. If the power to spend and the power to enforce become blurred, the separation of powers that defines American democracy begins to erode.
How this shutdown ends will show whether that balance still holds.
