# The Government Shut Down, Now What? 

So you’ve shut the government down. Great. You’ve thrown a temper tantrum. We all got to watch it. And now what?

October 1, 2025 • News Releases 

Following today’s government shutdown, [Romina Boccia](https://www.cato.org/people/romina-boccia), Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, offers analysis on why Democrats may have miscalculated.

Boccia argues shutdowns hand the President and OMB extra discretion—hardly a smart move for the party out of power. With only 27% of government operations actually affected — and Democrats’ healthcare demands being unrelated to government funding and facing no pressing deadline — the strategic logic of forcing a shutdown now remains unclear.

Her assessment, featured in the *Washington Post* and *BBC News*: “The problem with going into shutdown fights like this one is that nobody seems to ask, ‘And then what?’ So you’ve shut the government down. Great. You’ve thrown a temper tantrum. We all got to watch it. And now what?”

Boccia is available for interviews. Read her [full analysis here](https://www.cato.org/blog/thoughts-about-government-shutdown-1).

If you’d like to speak with Boccia, please reach out to Madison: [mmiller@​cato.​org](mailto:mmiller@cato.org).

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