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The 2025 government shutdown is about to enter its second week, with Democrats and Republicans still unable to agree on a federal funding deal.

It’s the first government shutdown since 2019, when federal agencies were shuttered for 35 days.

Both sides have been blaming the other for the dysfunction in Washington; Democrats are accusing Republicans of letting healthcare premiums go up for millions of Americans, while the GOP is blaming the left for putting vulnerable Americans at risk while holding the government hostage for partisan demands.

Political strategists who spoke with Fox News Digital, however, have downplayed the shutdown’s effects on the coming 2026 elections.

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING

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