Partial Government Shutdown – It's Time to Finish What DOGE Started – Top 3 Takeaways, October 1st, 2025
Takeaway #1: Trivia Time
I want to start today’s takeaways with a little trivia because what I’ll ask you is not only informational, but also instructive as we embark on day one of a partial government shutdown today. Which president presided over the most partial government shutdowns in American history? The answer is... Ronald Reagan. And how many partial government shutdowns happened during Reagan’s run in the 80’s? The answer is eight. Reagan had eight years in office and eight partial government shutdowns. And what was the average U.S. growth rate during Reagan’s run in the 80’s? 3.5%. Clearly the regular partial government shutdowns weren’t a problem for the economy or the country. And on that note, though it wasn’t that long ago, can you remember how many partial government shutdowns we had during President Trump’s first run? The answer is three. Almost one for as many years as Trump was president of the United States. That also included the longest partial government shutdown in history in 2019 which lasted for 35 days. And what do you remember of 2019? That was a pretty great year if you’ll recall when we reached record low unemployment rates for every minority group in the country, with record wages, only 1% inflation and the biggest increase in the standard of living for the average American since the advent of the internet age and dot com boom in the 1990’s. And so, the point is this... Partial government shutdowns, in either quantity or length, are always made out to be more important than they actually are and that’s because it’s not the federal government that makes this country go and it’s not the federal government that makes this country great and that’s especially true when you’re talking about what are deemed to be “non-essential” federal government agencies/employees. So, about that...
Takeaway #2: How much can be cut?
One aspect of this partial government shutdown that’s different, is that preceding it we had the world’s leading entrepreneur do a deep dive into it (the “it” being the federal government). As I’ve pointed out over the years when partial government shutdowns have loomed... The federal government doesn’t shutdown. It prioritizes. During a partial federal government shutdown there is discretion regarding what stays open and what doesn't. But there’s one area that isn’t open to interpretation. What are considered “essential” services. The Office of Management and Budget determines what remains open and what doesn't with the President of the United States being the final arbiter of what’s considered essential - with a few exceptions. The average impact during shutdowns has historically only been felt by 15 to 20% of the federal government. So, about that... DOGE has cut $206 billion across 22 federal government agencies this year. There have been 13,231 federal government contracts that have been terminated. There are 15,488 grants that have been nixed, 384 leases for government buildings that are no more and 300,000 federal government positions that have been eliminated – meaning that already this year 12% of the federal workforce in place when Trump was sworn in as president of the United States are no more. Have you noticed a change in anything? Has any aspect of your life been different in any way without all of that extra government getting a cut of your pay? This is the point. During the peak of his DOGEing Elon Musk estimated that we could cut 30% of the federal government without having a negative impact on the lives of the average American. That’s more than is typically even impacted during a partial shutdown.
Takeaway #3: Finish what DOGE started
In the past I’ve said that the only lament that I’ve had with partial government shutdowns is that none of them were permanent. But now, with DOGE’s info in toe, just think about how easy and instructive it would be for the country to continue with only “essential” services. We shouldn’t lament 15% less federal government for a short period of time...we should embrace it and make it permanent...and then keep going to downsize the size of our bloated bureaucracy to that of something that we could afford. Which, by the way if we did, there would never be another government shutdown again. It’s a permanent solution to this problem. In the past partial government shutdowns have resulted in more expense because government employees who were furloughed have been brought back and with back pay. This time they could be shown the door and help finish the job DOGE was hired to do. I have two very basic questions that should transcend partisan politics. During the most recent threat of a partial government shutdown, I had this to say: For those who are concerned about a partial government shutdown... Should the federal government live within its means? Should we really be operating 86 “non-essential” federal government agencies (almost all of which no one others than those who work in them could name) with the country $37.5 trillion in debt and growing? The only difference? Now the debt is at $37.5 trillion and climbing. Sign me up for the partial government shutdown...only this time make it permanent. As I said yesterday, President Trump has created a “heads I win, tails you lose” scenario with this standoff with congressional Democrats who’ve filibustered the clean spending plan passed in the House. In his 1996 State of the Union address President Clinton famously said: “the era of big government is over”. If only that had proven true. But this time we have a president who wants to make America Great Again, who isn’t worried about winning reelection again, and who knows that big government isn’t how we get there. It’s time to finish what DOGE started. This partial government shutdown provides the perfect opportunity.