On October 1, 2025, the federal government shut down primarily due to disagreements over funding for healthcare and border security, affecting Americans in nearly every aspect of their lives.
One issue has been the administration of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) through the Department of Education, which has been affected by funding shortages.
Senior Andrew Bishop states, “The website says that it would be processed between 1-3 days, but I am noticing that it took around 6-7 days, around a week.”
Another issue came in the classroom, where teachers relied on government resources for lessons and learning opportunities. Specifically, in history classrooms, many teachers and students were facing limited resources.
In Mr. Zachary Phelan’s AP United States Government and Politics class, students experienced struggles with White House website links in their introductory assignment on the interactions between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
One website has portions that were not being updated for students to complete their assignments. Another website showed a “404/Page Not Found” error when students clicked on the link.
A similar struggle came on November 10 during the school-wide Veterans’ Day assemblies. Recruiters from the five branches of the military were supposed to aid veterans in their speeches to students; however, the shutdown caused these non-essential actions to either be paused or limited.
More prominent delays also happened at airports around the country, because airports lacked enough controllers to handle all the traffic.
Mr. Eric Kerzner, father of senior Joey Kerzner, traveled to Green Bay two weeks ago, dealing with several delays and cancellations of flights. He was stuck in Detroit for several hours when connecting to Green Bay, almost missing the Eagles vs. Packers football game he had to work on Monday night.
Beyond the Milford community, the government shutdown impacted millions of people around the United States, especially those who relied on crucial government programs such as SNAP benefits and other initiatives that use discretionary funds.
Despite the government reopening on November 12, making it the longest government shutdown in American history, many members of the Milford community and abroad are still feeling the effects of the enduring conflict between the two parties.
