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As millions of Americans increasingly feel the effects of the government shutdown, whether it’s because they are federal employees who have been furloughed or regular folks who no longer have access to certain services, it is important to remember that we have arrived at this moment because of very specific decisions congressional leaders and the Trump administration have made.

In some ways, these choices were difficult; in other ways they weren’t difficult at all.

Take the Democrats, for example.

They have been sitting on the sidelines all year while Trump and his GOP have turned the parts of the federal government that they didn’t cripple into a weapon against blue states and progressive ideas. After squandering an opportunity to slow down that effort in March, Senate Democrats have now decided to take a stand.

It’s tough to blame them.

Trump has been ramming his agenda through Congress while simultaneously usurping the power of the legislative branch, especially when it comes to setting tariffs and deciding how appropriated funds should be spent.

In addition, this administration has proven to be the most lawless in history, so why would congressional Democrats sit down with the White House to negotiate a deal that will then be ignored later on?

In that sense, making the decision to vote against a continuing resolution was easy, especially because Republicans showed no willingness to negotiate anything.

However, it was also difficult in that it was clear that the Trump administration would use the shutdown to pursue the same goals, i.e., the dismantling of parts of the government and the weaponization of the rest, just in a different manner, and that this would cause needless hardship to people across the country.

Trump and his allies are not shy about just blurting out that this is the goal.

“I have a meeting today with [Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director] Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Wednesday morning.

For his part, Vought had already announced the cancelation of $8 billion worth of Green New Deal funds for states that voted against Trump in 2024.

And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned Democrats that “they put the White House and the president in this position,” and that “if they don’t want further harm on their constituents back home, then they need to reopen the government.”

But here is the thing: It is largely up to the Trump administration how painful they want to make this shutdown for the American people.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said as much on Wednesday when he explained how this process works.

“[When] Congress turns off the funding and the funding runs out, it is up to the commander-in-chief, the president of the United States, to determine how those resources will be spent,” he said.

Noting that most of that responsibility will fall to Vought, Johnson then managed to say with a straight face that neither Trump nor his OMB director want this power and “take no pleasure” in figuring out what to cut.

That’s a ridiculous claim.

Vought has quite literally written the book on how to destroy the federal government and use its carcass to create an authoritarian right-wing regime.

But don’t take it from us.

Here is Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on Fox News talking about the incredible opportunity the shutdown offers this administration.

“Russ Vought, the OMB director, has been dreaming about this moment, preparing for this moment since puberty,” he said. “Russ Vought has a plan, and that plan is going to succeed in empowering, further empowering Trump. This is going to be the Democrats’ worst nightmare.”

So, yes, we are going to disagree with Johnson that this is difficult for the White House or that it would rather not have this much power.

And that’s the most important thing to remember.

Whatever actions the Trump administration takes, those are conscious decisions to harm the American people.

There have been past shutdowns where the effects on the country were minimal. Nobody got fired permanently, no agencies were closed forever.

If those things happen in the coming days, then it’s entirely because Trump wants them to happen, and not because he and Congress couldn’t reach a deal.