As the government shutdown approaches the longest in history — 35 days during Donald Trump’s first term — one word explains the dynamic and duration of the paralysis: trust. Washington today suffers from a Trust Deficit.
Democrats see that Trump and his budget director, Russell Vought, are ruthlessly reversing previous decisions made by Congress — closing departments, firing federal workers, impounding billions of dollars already appropriated by the legislature. So, they have good reason to believe that any deal forged with congressional Republicans to reopen the government could be summarily ignored by the White House.
Even Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska admits that Democrats are right to be wary: “If you’re a Democrat … you’re saying, ‘Why am I going to try to be helpful, if Mr. Vought and OMB is just going to do a backdoor move and rescind what we’ve been working on?'” she told reporters. “So, yeah, there’s a lack of trust. Does it make it harder to come to terms on hard things like a government shutdown? Absolutely, it makes it harder.”
Republicans have offered proposals to reopen the government and simply fund it at current levels, which would cause many Americans’ health insurance costs to skyrocket. Democrats have used the only lever of power they possess — the Senate filibuster — to keep the government closed until Republicans agree to extend expiring subsidies, passed during the COVID-19 pandemic, that help families buy health insurance on the public marketplace.
The 17 million Americans who rely on those policies face, on average, a 30% boost in their premiums next year. If the subsidies are allowed to end, reports the Washington Post, “millions of people will see their health insurance payments double or even triple in 2026.”
The real problem is not money, however. Budget battles can usually be resolved by finding a compromise figure. But informal negotiating groups that “have tried to brainstorm ways out of the standoff” have so far failed miserably, reports the Associated Press. “Lawmakers have found themselves running up against the reality that the relationship between the two parties is badly broken.”
“The shutdown is the most acute symptom of a general lack of goodwill on Capitol Hill, where bipartisan deal-making has increasingly gone out of vogue,” adds Bloomberg.
“To have good-faith conversations, you have to have trust. There’s a real challenge of trust,” Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois told the AP.
“We cannot trust that they will abide by any deal that’s done by a handshake,” Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware said on CNN.
There have been many standoffs like this in the past. And eventually, of course, some sort of deal is always reached to reopen the government. But now it feels like we are witnessing a significant shift in the way that Washington works.
Trump has poisoned the climate and culture of the capital. His approach to politics prizes division over unity, anger over accommodation. He sees himself as the president of MAGA Nation, not the American Nation, and he’s waging a holy war of Us against They/Them, Good versus Evil.
At Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, Trump said: “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.” He didn’t say he disliked or disagreed with his foes — perfectly reasonable attitudes. He said he hated them.
That hatred is at the core of Trumpism. He doesn’t want to defeat his opponents, he wants to conquer them. Obliterate them. And Trumpism is the single biggest reason why relations between the parties on Capitol Hill are so badly broken.
Democrats are hardly blameless for that collapse. They didn’t start this war, but for every action in politics, there is a reaction. The ferocity of Trump’s crusade has triggered an equally virulent backlash. Trump hates his opponents, and now his opponents hate him back.
I covered Congress during the ’80s, when Ronald Reagan was president and Tip O’Neill was the Democratic speaker of the house. They differed sharply on many issues, and that’s the way it should be in a healthy two-party democracy. Voters deserve choices.
But even as they disagreed, the two leaders, and many of their allies, had a certain respect for each other, an understanding that they represented clashing but credible interests and ideologies. On a basic level, they trusted each other to bargain in good faith, to recognize the need for compromise, to keep their word.
That trust is absolutely essential for the smooth functioning of any legislature, but especially one that tries to govern a country as vast and diverse as this one. And that trust has virtually disappeared in Trump’s Washington.
Steven Roberts teaches politics and journalism at George Washington University. He can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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